The remarkable pressing game utilised by Roger Schmidt's men kept the Bundesliga champions at bay and Massimiliano Allegri can take some tips ahead of their Champions League tie
Following the confirmation of Pep Guardiola’s departure from Bayern Munich at the end of the season, the talk around the Allianz Arena has consistently been about waving goodbye to the iconic coach with the European and domestic treble that has so far eluded him in Germany.
Having replaced Jupp Heynckes after a Champions League, Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal triumph, the pressure has been on Guardiola to further enhance the Bavarian side’s dominance in Europe.
However, Guardiola’s men have been criticised in each of his two full seasons in charge for losing their intensity after wrapping up the league title early, leading to their downfall in the Champions League at the semi-final stages.
Last season’s finalists and Bayern’s last-16 opponents in this season’s competition, Juventus, would love nothing more than to crush the dreams of the next Manchester City boss by ending his hopes of becoming a true icon in Bavaria. To that end, Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Bayer Leverkusen should have given the Italian champions a few helpful tips on how to deal with the mammoth challenge that awaits them.
The Champions League last-16 encounter comes at the perfect time for the Bianconeri based on their own incredible run of 13 wins in a row but watching the likes of Arjen Robben, Robert Lewandowski, Arturo Vidal and Douglas Costa being so easily nullified by Roger Schmidt’s relentless Leverkusen must have increased their confidence.
The dropping of points itself against a side who were 21 points behind them at kick-off is not the main issue. The lack of structure to their attack and their crumbling under the swarming of their hosts was quite incredible.
Guardiola was lucky to see his side come up against a team who had it all defensively but struggled to threaten going forward.
That the two teams had been able to muster just one attempt each at half time - an Omer Toprak header from a corner and a poor shot from distance from Robben - said enough. Bayern simply could not find a way into the final third. The introduction of Thomas Muller in the second half gave them a source of attacking potency, the forward blazing over the bar and then wide in quick succession, but Leverkusen’s defensive shape and suffocation of ball-carriers did enough to keep them from finding space in key areas.
As Leverkusen eased off in the final quarter of the game, it allowed Bayern much more freedom around their opponents’ box but they were presented with a new challenge in trying to get through some close marking of a side who knew exactly how to keep them away from dangerous spaces.
Lewandowski and Muller both showed how they can hardly be completely taken out of a game with some near misses but poor performances from Vidal and Xabi Alonso – who was sent off late in the game – show how far from perfect this team is.
Javier Hernandez and Hakan Calhanoglu were able to work their way into the box and threaten, though, and, with the likes of Paulo Dybala and Paul Pogba offering a greater level of firepower, Juventus will feel that they can improve on the lessons that Schmidt’s charges have taught them.
- Goal