You may have clocked that I've got an off-the-weekend video out on Mondays now which is centred around the question "Did you notice?" Well, today's video is all about this man and how he shut out Bayern Munich this weekend [thread]:
In his post-match press conference after beating Bayern Munich 3-0 this weekend, Xabi Alonso was quick to point out how important his front three were defensively, when @ThomasHitz asked him about why Leverkusen were so good at limiting Bayern.
This is because they were careful to cover Bayern’s double pivot, making sure no passes were getting into them:
As a result, Leverkusen’s own midfielders could sit deeper to cover the space between the lines of Bayern’s attack - the areas Kane, Musiala and Sane love to operate in.
But Leverkusen didn’t want to remain completely passive out of possession.
In the moments when the Leverkusen front three did press higher, Alonso’s midfielders had to push up to cover Bayern’s double pivot:
But that’s where Leverkusen’s back five came into their own…
Because their outside centre backs could then push forward to cover the space that had opened up, without leaving their back line exposed:
And so, by protecting the space between the lines where Bayern’s forwards like to attack from, Leverkusen were able to restrict Bayern to less than half an expected goal and Kane to only 18 touches:
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This video was produced by Jamie Stewart and @ReubenPinder helped with the script.
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