FC Bayern 2023/24: Three tactical reasons for their set-play superiority – set-piece analysis

Bayern Munich occupies the second place in the Bundesliga with 29 points from 11 matches, two points behind Bayer 04 Leverkusen, the first-place holder. It seems that we will witness fierce competition for the title between FC Bayern and Xabi Alonso’s team, which makes us address a point that may be important and decisive in this struggle, namely set pieces.

Thomas Tuchel’s team occupies the first place as the most team scoring from set pieces in the Bundesliga, tied with Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach, but Bayern have the highest xG (6.33) in the Bundesliga, while Borussia Dortmund are in the third place with 5.86. Bayer Leverkusen are in 13th place with 2.71, indicating Bayern Munich has more dangerous and closer chances to the goal.

Bayern Munich also enjoyed the diversity in using set pieces, as they scored five goals in the Bundesliga from corners, the second-scoring team from corners after Borussia Mönchengladbach with six goals, but they also scored two goals from free kicks.

In this tactical analysis, we will discuss the different tactics of Bayern Munich in both corners and free kicks in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UEFA Champions League.

Free-kicks

Bayern Munich prefer to target the area behind the last player of the defending line by blocking him from another player to free the space for the targeted player who comes from a farther distance with his pace, having the time to target this area while the ball is in the air and this is the reason for targeting the far post in these routines besides being away from the goalkeeper who can’t go to pick the ball, as we will show in the following case.

In the first photo, our two targeted players are highlighted in red coming late, not offside, with their pace with the aid of the two blocks, highlighted in green in the second photo, from the two players who are in offside positions to block the two defenders from their back preventing them from dropping with the line to empty the path of our two targeted players.

In the third photo, our two targeted players are free, but why two? The first targeted player is in a far area after the far post, so he can’t score from the first touch, but he can nod the ball by his head to the second targeted player, as shown in the fourth photo.

But the cross is a little powerful, so the first targeted player can’t control the headed pass, as shown below.