Bayer Leverkusen Set-Piece Analysis 2024/25: Sebastián Parilla & Xabi Alonso Tactics Explained

Bayer Leverkusen Defensive Struggles 

Competition in the Bundesliga looks to be fierce this year.

After five rounds, the defending champions Bayer Leverkusen occupy fourth place with 10 points, just three behind the leaders FC Bayern, who have 13 points; this places them just one point ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt in second place and two points ahead of RB Leipzig, who sit in third.

On the defensive front, the defending champions are not performing optimally; in fact, their performance is quite concerning.

They are among the weakest defensive teams in the Bundesliga, having conceded 10 goals, placing them ahead of only six teams.

It is enough to know that RB Leipzig, in third place, have conceded only two goals.

Conversely, the situation is entirely different on the offensive side.

They possess the second-best attacking line, having scored 14 goals, tied with VfB Stuttgart.

They trail Bayern Munich, who have the strongest attack, having netted 17 goals.

Upon closer examination, it was noted that over 40% of those Leverkusen goals were scored from set-pieces — six goals from such situations, highlighting the impact of set-piece coach Sebastián Parilla.

This makes them the highest-scoring team in the league in this regard, tied with VfB Stuttgart.

However, Leverkusen have a slight edge in expected goals (xG), with 3.9 compared to VfB Stuttgarts

The significant gap between expected goals (xG) and actual goals highlights their effectiveness in set pieces.

This tactical analysis will elaborate on this, where we will discuss the key Bayer Leverkusens tactics under manager Xabi Alonso and set-piece coach Sebastián Parrilla.

Although simple, Parrillas set-piece tactics have been highly effective for Leverkusen.

Bayer Leverkusen Corner Kicks Analysis

Starting with corner kicks, Bayer Leverkusen stands out as the best in the league.

They have scored four goals from corners — the highest number in the Bundesliga.

They surpass VfB Stuttgart by a single goal, as Stuttgart have netted three from corners.

Florian Wirtzs Screens

Bayer Leverkusen have a unique way of making the best use of Florian Wirtz.

Yes, you heard right, Wirtz at corners! 

Although he isnt good at aerial duels, they exploit that he isnt usually marked to ask him to block the targeted players marker, which is known as a screen—lets see a showcase.

In the photo below, the opponent defends with five players in the six-yard, three-man markers, a short-option defender, and a rebound defender standing on the edge of the box.

The plan is to target Jonathan Tah in the area beyond the far post, but there are three obstacles:

1- Jonathan Tahs man marker

2- The last zonal defender who may go to the targeted area

3- The goalkeeper may claim the ball in the air before reaching the targeted area.

After learning about the obstacles, lets learn how they deal with them.

Wirtz, who pretends to wait on the edge of the box, turns around Tahs marker, standing behind his back to block him when he tries to step back with Tah.

Now, Wirtzs screen is shown below. Lets move on to the other obstacles.

A player (green) stands in front of the goalkeeper, taking his attention to delay his reaction because the goalkeeper tries to push him away.

This is especially true since all of the other attackers move, making deceptive runs, toward the n