When Bayern Munich successfully defended their Bundesliga
title with a record breaking 7 games left plaudits were rightly so rained down
upon the German champions and their new manager Pep Guardiola. To emulate last season’s
success was never going to be easy, Bayern would have to be the first team to
retain the Champions League, the fact that that hasn’t happened is no reason to
say that Bayern have gone backwards, but the manner in which that happened should
to lead some questions being asked.
Last season when Bayern dismantled Barcelona in the
Champions League semi-final they were a joy to watch, it was counter attacking
football at its best, a 7-0 aggregate victory seemed to signal beginning of the
end of possession based football. Given that, Guardiola’s appointment seems a
little odd, especially because it was the team that he had helped build who
were beaten so emphatically.
Fast forward to this year and the 5-0 aggregate defeat at
the hands of Real Madrid certainly seems to agree with that. Real who are so
adept at playing against a Barca-esque team, they’ve been doing it for years
were hardly troubled by a Bayern side that has been recast in their new
manager’s image.
From looking at Bayern’s Bunesliga performances there’s
certainly a difference between this year and last. Before securing the
Bundesliga title Bayern went undefeated; a particularly impressive feat.
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In terms of games won the record is identical, the only
difference in results is that Bayern drew one more game last year than this, but then they won the title won game earlier this season.
The real difference is in terms of possession, hardly
surprising when you consider the brand of football Guardiola is renowned for
playing. Bayern’s average possession per
game increased from 63.6% to 71.1% from last season. However, with that
possession Bayern had only 1.5 shots per game but more importantly, only 0.1
more shots on target, an increase from 7.5 to 7.6. So despite having more of
the ball and controlling the game more Bayern are doing less with their
possession. In fact, they had more shots per possession (0.270) in 2012/13 than
this season (0.263).
This highlights the problem Bayern now face, in
dominating possession in the manner which they have this season they have
become more predictable and so become easier to play against. Perhaps this was
not so evident in the Bundesliga, where Bayern still had the wherewithal to
break down their opponents, but it becomes more apparent when you consider
their Champions League record. Especially the game against Real Madrid who have
so much experience of playing against such a possession based approach. Even
Manchester United, who had a woeful year by their standards, came close to
putting Bayern out.
Breaking down their passes per game makes this
predictability more apparent. Bayern played more passes, with a higher pass
accuracy this season. Interestingly, they also played more long balls this
season than last, but as a percentage of their total passes it is lower (12%
last season, compared to 10% this season).
Given the ability of their wide men, Robben and Ribery,
and Mandzukic’s aerial prowess it’s surprising they didn’t play more crosses. Although
that may be in part due to the lack of game time both Ribery and Robben had
this season, much to the grievance of the former. It’ll be interesting to see
how Lewandowski fits in with this style of play, given Dortmund’s approach is
less possession based and he too is very strong in the air.
Less crosses suggests Bayern played through the middle
more, and that’s certainly the case, last season Bayern played an average of
26% through the middle, compared to 29% this season.
Bayern were offside fewer times 1.9 compared to 3.4 last
season, whilst that is a positive and corresponds to Bayern’s greater control
of the game, what it also illustrates is a team playing less direct football,
maybe taking less risks in order to keep the ball. That’s also shown by fewer
through balls per game this season.
Statistics courtesy of whoscored.com
