Guardiola vs Tuchel tactical mind games will be key if Man City are to beat Bayern Munich in epic Champions League clash

THE Champions League is back with a bang this Tuesday as German champions Bayern Munich travel to the Etihad Stadium to take on the champions of England.

There will be a familiar face in the opposition dugout for Manchester City as the Bavarian giants recently appointed former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel to replace Julian Nagelsmann after a turbulent run of fixtures.

Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel go head to head again

Pep Guardiola will still have nightmares of the trilogy of games between April and May of 2021 where the two sides squared off in three separate competitions. 

Chelsea won all three, including a narrow 1-0 victory in the final of the Champions League.

While Pep got his revenge on Tuchel in the following campaign, completing the double over his counterpart in the Premier League, the final in Porto will have left an unhealed scar.

Nevertheless, the City boss will have the opportunity to get his European revenge over these two legs to take one step closer to lifting the crown for the first time in the club’s history.

Meanwhile, Tuchel will be desperate to cut Pep’s wound deeper and cement his place at the illustrious table of coaches to have won multiple Champions Leagues.

A change from Chelsea

Having inherited a mess at Stamford Bridge following a disastrous few months under Frank Lampard, Tuchel decided to change the team’s shape.

The highly-rated coach switched to a 3-4-2-1 from the 4-3-3 preferred by his predecessor.

Tuchel admitted that this was a decision based on the personnel that was available at his disposal at the time.

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However, it was the instigator for overwhelming success for the remainder of the 2020/21 season as the Blues flew up the table, eventually finishing third and taking home the European title.

At Bayern Munich, Nagelsmann was pretty consistent with his deployment of the 4-2-3-1 and the Reds have much more star quality than Chelsea two years ago.

As such, Tuchel hasn’t changed the shape. In his first few games in charge, the manager has maintained Nagelsmann’s 4-2-3-1.

It is likely that Man City will face this same structure on Tuesday night as Bayern are set to battle it out for their share of the ball.

Bayern’s shape in possession resembles a 4-3-3 as Joshua Kimmich operates as a deep-lying midfielder in front of the backline while his partner Leon Goretzka pushes higher.

Goretzka has pushed up into the left halfspace and Thomas Muller has mirrored this on the right. As Bayern play out from the back, their shape changes from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3.

Tuchel’s system is very fluid in this regard, although this can be credited to the work completed by Nagelsmann during his tenure too as Bayern were really flexible positionally during games.

But the formation changes once more out of possession when Bayern are forced to defend.

Of course, much like his Chelsea side, Tuchel still wants his team to be on the front foot, pressing and trying to win back the ball as close to the opposition’s goal as possible.

The shape reverts to its base 4-2-3-1 when Bayern are defending, with Goretzka dropping back alongside Kimmich and Muller restored to his No 10 role behind the striker.

In the derby, Bayern were quick to drop into a 4-2-3-1 formation lower down the pitch once Dortmund broke through the hosts’ high pressing.

How Bayern lined up at the weekend

There is still a slight possibility that Tuchel goes for the art of surprise by changing Bayern’s shape to a more conservative back three formation but it’s unlikely.

As a result, we can expect the visitors to line up in a 4-3-3 in possession and a 4-2-3-1 while defending.

Bayern’s aggressive defending versus City’s build-up

One of the most interesting battles to watch out for is how Man City fare when building out from the back against Bayern’s aggressive press.

While it’s still early days into his tenure at the Allianz Arena, Tuchel’s set-up when defending higher up the pitch was very obvious.

As aforementioned, the German wants Bayern to defend in a 4-2-3-1 but when pressing in the final third, the shape is altered depending on the opposition.

For example, Borussia Dortmund used Emre Can as a lone No6 during their build-up play but often Jude Bellingham would drop next to the former Liverpool man.

When this happened, Goretzka would step up next to Muller to ensure that he wasn’t being outnumbered 2v1 by Can and Bellingham.

Because of this, Bayern’s defensive shape changed from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-1-4-1.

Goretzka stepped forward to mark Can while Bellingham was being picked up by Muller, altering the team’s structure.

Tuchel wants to protect the centre of the pitch and force their opponents to play to the wide areas rather than through the middle.

This is because it is much easier to defend on the flanks than in the central areas since the attacking side will have fewer passing angles due to the limitations of the sidelines.

To initiate this, centre-forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting pressures one centre-back at an angle, cutting off the passing lane to the other central defender.

The ball-carrier is then forced to play it out to his fullback. From there, Bayern go man-for-man on the flanks, or to use the old-school Sunday league term, Bayern ‘lock on’.

Choupo-Moting’s angled pressured caused the Freiburg centre-back to play out wide. Once this occurred, Bayern shifted across and went man-for-man on the flanks.

Man City team that won at Southampton last weekend

When these situations arise, Tuchel wants his players to be tenacious and aggressive to win the ball back.

However, facing Manchester City will be a much tougher task for the Bundesliga champions as Pep Guardiola’s team are the kings of building out from the back.

City are pressed high in almost every game and so Bayern’s plan will be like water off a duck’s back to them.

Pep’s players are more than comfortable playing under pressure and in tight spaces against similar pressing schemes.

In fact, in City’s recent 4-1 victory over Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp’s side pressed in the same manner as Bayern are expected to this Tuesday.

Despite being under intense pressure from the visitors, goalkeeper Ederson comfortably played a line-breaking passes to the forward line, bypassing the press with one ball.

Liverpool’s backline were constantly exposed once the press was beaten and so the build-up versus high press battle could be the key throughout both legs of this colossal European tie.

Risky fullbacks

Another noticeable tactical tweak made by Tuchel in his first few games in charge of Bayern is how aggressive the fullbacks are against the opposition’s winger.

Tuchel is keen for his side to press all over the pitch, not just in the final third.

This also means that the fullbacks have to follow the opposition’s winger into deeper areas should they drop to look for the ball.

Against Dortmund in Der Klassiker, this was particularly evident as Julian Brandt was always looking to come short to receive the ball from deep, hoping to turn and drive forward with it.

However, Alphonso Davies kept up and would follow him very deep, even if there was no defensive cover down that flank.

Brandt has dropped into a pocket of space behind Bayern’s midfield, but Davies was right on top of him, leaving his position in the backline to follow his man.

Alphonso Davies was dominant on the left v Dortmund

Unfortunately, there is a downside to this.

As the fullback is stepping out from the back, there is space left to be exploited behind him.

Dortmund didn’t use this open channel enough to attack into, but Pep is wise.

A similar scenario will likely play out as City’s wingers are notorious for coming short to look for passes from the midfield rather than running in behind.

When this occurs, the hosts can use the runs of the nearest central midfielders to move into the channel to receive.

To combat this, Bayern’s closest centre-back will come across to defend the channel but there will be one less man defending the box as a result.

City have always performed these underlapping central midfielder runs since Pep has been at the helm and are deadly from these situations. 

Liverpool’s right-back James Milner stepped higher, causing a separation between him and Joel Matip at the back. De Bruyne ran into this open channel, causing Matip to come across before eventually whipping it in to Erling Haaland who stabbed it home.

When analysing Bayern’s set-up under Tuchel, Guardiola will know that this is perhaps the best way for the English champions to break down their European opponents over these two enticing legs.

So what does this all mean?

The two matches will undoubtedly be evenly matched in terms of personnel on the pitch as well as guidance from the touchline.

Guardiola and Tuchel have met just once in European competition and the latter gained the upper hand.

The City boss will be out for revenge, and this is the perfect opportunity to do so.

While two incredible teams take centre stage, the tactical between two rival managers will be a sight to behold under the floodlights at the Etihad.