Holding Midfield: Case Study: Bayern Munich 0-2 Borussia Monchengladbach 21/3/2015

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It’s hardly the Franz Beckenbauer and Gunter Netzer-led rivalry of old, but the clash between two of the league’s top three was definitely something to get excited about, even if they were separated by 20 points. While mostly lacking the playing quality of other top leagues, the Bundesliga has such an interesting variety of gameplans that half the league has the potential to really make things difficult for Bayern on any given matchday. They obviously don’t generally – the table speaks for itself – but nevertheless the potential is there and it’s the hope that keeps us going. Pep Guardiola opted for a 4-3-3 formation while Lucien Favre went for his usual 4-4-2, somewhat surprisingly choosing to leave Max Kruse on the bench presumably due to his relatively poor form since the winter break. The opening half hour was mostly uneventful. Borussia Monchengladbach sat deep and narrow, but didn’t completely cede to the Bavarians, pressing whenever they had the opportunity. There was some slight variation from the norm in how they defended: typically in this kind of set-up the strikers shadow the centre midfielders to stop the ball being played into them – which is what they did here when […]

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