UEFA Europa League 2019/20: Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Wolfsberger – Tactical Analysis

After two thrilling nights of Champions League football, our attention was turned towards the Europa League. The competition also made its comeback with many interesting clashes that involved some of the big names. In Germany, Marco Rose’s Borussia Mönchengladbach welcomed the Austrian club Wolfsberger A.C. to their home, Borussia-Park.

Rose is very familiar with the visitors, having played them when he managed Red Bull Salzburg two seasons earlier. This summer, he was appointed into Mönchengladbach’s managerial spot, replacing Dieter Hecking. They had a big summer that saw many interesting additions coming to the club, such as Ramy Bensebaini, Stefan Lainer and Breel Embolo. And it’s no surprise to see the German club had a positive start to the season, securing seven out of the possible twelve points from the first four matches.

On the other hand, this is Wolfsberger’s second season in the Europa League since 2015. Gerhard Struber’s side finished third in the Austrian Bundesliga and therefore secured their spot in the group stage for the first time in their history. As many would have thought they were an underdog and inexperienced side when they travelled to Germany, things went a different way on the field. They came out on top with a shocking 4-0 win, with three of their goals being scored inside the first half.

This tactical analysis will provide an analysis of Wolfsberger’s dominant win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Meanwhile, using statistics, we will point out what went wrong in Rose’s tactics against Struber’s tactics.

Lineups

The home side lined up in Rose’s favourite 4-1-2-1-2 formation with Yann Sommer starting in goal. Rose didn’t have the service of Lars Stindl and Jonas Hoffmann due to injuries. Instead, he chose youngster Florian Neuhaus and new signing Marcus Thuram to fill in their respective positions. American defender Fabian Johnson remained on the sideline and he was replaced by another new signing in Ramy Bensebaini.

Travelling to Germany with his strongest side, Strauner had a wealth of options to pick for his 4-3-1-2 lineup. Former PSV midfielder Marcel Ritzmaier completed the midfield along with Werder Bremen loanee Romano Schmid and ex-1860 München midfielder Michael Liendl. There was another familiar face for German football fans, especially Düsseldorf fans, as Lukas Schmitz was chosen to be Wolfsberger’s starting left-back.

Mönchengladbachs style of play

As expected from a side who is managed by Rose, Mönchengladbach immediately put an emphasis on building from the back after the whistle was blown. They held and recycled possession quite efficiently using a four-man build-up that was positioned high up the pitch. In Matthias Ginter and Nico Elvedi, Rose had two natural ball-playing defenders who were comfortable with the ball at their feet.

Meanwhile, two wing-backs also stayed deep in the majority of occasions to provide passing options for the ball carrier. Also, it’s worth noticing that both Lainer and Bensebaini usually moved into the wide-area and stretched the team’s passing block. This allowed them to occupy both flanks and ready to create an attack whenever they received the ball.

Besides