RB Salzburg vs Eintracht Frankfurt — 2019/20 UEFA Europa League Round of 32 — Tactical Analysis
As the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 capped off with advantages being leaned towards stronger teams, this occasion also saw the Round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League finished as the lineup for the next round was almost completed with many favourites crashed out after surprising results from their matchups. This created many interesting ties for the next round given several favourites still remained in the competition such as Inter Milan, Manchester United or Sevilla.
Two of the favourites to lift the trophy this season, RB Salzburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, met each other in the last match of the Round of 32 given the original match was postponed due to bad weather. In the first leg between these two at the Commerzbank-Arena, things had gone one-sided for the home side as a hat-trick from Daichi Kamada and one goal from Filip Kostić secured a 4–1 win for Frankfurt. This meant pressure were on Salzburg’s shoulders as they had to score three goals and not let Frankfurt score in order to advance through away goal.
Still, a 2–2 draw that was set up by the two teams in this second leg was not enough to send the Austrian club into the next round. This tactical analysis will provide an analysis of Salzburg’s 2–2 draw against Frankfurt in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32. Meanwhile, using statistics, we will point out the noticeable tactical points in both Jesse Marsch’s tactics and Adi Hütter’s tactics.
Lineups
Salzburg entered this match knowing that they must secure a win with a three-goal deficit and not letting the opposition to score. Given that Marsch had almost a full-strength lineup to choose from, it had given them the confidence to play with their best players in front of their own fans. They lined up in their familiar 4–1–2–1–2 formation that saw Cican Stanković took up the spot in goal, replacing Alexander Walke as the German goalkeeper recovered from his fractured foot.
Antoine Bernede was able to shake off his shin injury to join up with the substitutions that included the striking duo of Mërgim Berisha and Noah Okafor. On the field, Hwang Hee-chan and Patson Daka took up the responsibility of providing the goals for Salzburg as they received support from Sekou Koïta.
In contrast to Salzburg, Frankfurt had a decent list of injuries before this match and most of the players included in that list were key players in Hütter’s system. The midfield duo of Gelson Fernandes and Lucas Torro both missed out through their hip and knee injuries respectively. This allowed new signing Stefan Ilsanker to step into Hütter’s 4–1–4–1 formation and sat in between the defensive lines.
Out wide, Mijat Gaćinović could have provided an attacking force for the team but he had to focus on building his match fitness and was not included in the squad list for their trip to Austria. Instead, the hero of the first leg Daichi Kamada was chosen to occupy the right-winger role and Filip Kostić took on a similar role on the opposite wing. Missing Bas Dost through a groin injury was also a huge blown to the team but Frankfurt still had the Portuguese striking duo of André Silva, who led the attacking line for this match, and Gonçalo Paciência, who was included among the substitutions, to count on.
Salzburg’s style of play
With the pressure of must secure a win in order to advance into the next round, it is understandable to see Salzburg pushed forward immediately from the first few minutes in order to have the early lead. The Austrian side relied heavily on playing out from the back using the passing ability of the two centre-backs Andre Ramalho and Jerôme Onguene and they tended to move the ball in a quick fashion in order to disrupt the opposition’s press.
Another thing that can be noticed is Mohamed Kamara’s positioning during the team’s build-up phase as he tended to drop deep from his position to create a passing triangle along with the centre-backs. They, along with the two wing-backs, Andreas Ulmer and Albert Vallci, created a passing block inside the middle third as they aimed to progress the ball forward either through space in between Frankfurt’s defensive lines or from both wings. Given the attacking force of Ulmer, the home side tended to create attacks down the left-hand side and allowed the Austrian left-back to constantly overlapping up the pitch.
At times, it can be noticed that both central midfielders, Dominik Szoboszlai and Enock Mwepu, also dropped deep and offered to pick up the ball. They were players who had the ability to either dribble forward with the ball or make direct passes towards the attackers up front. And it was through the middle where they were able to create the most chances towards Kevin Trapp’s goal with 16 attacking opportunities and an overall xG rating of 0.68 xG.
Still, while the team’s opening goal did not come from the central half, it allowed Salzburg to complete their intention of gaining an early lead. From an attack that was executed down the right-hand side, Frankfurt found themselves being able to overload that side of the pitch and attempted to prevent the home side from entering their defensive third. They had six players who were ready to tackle Salzburg’s attackers and regain possession immediately, but the home side somehow worked the ball out of that and switched the attacking direction.
Ulmer was waiting on the opposite side as he was already involved in a 1v1 situation with Almamy Toure but still maintained a considerable distance away from the former Monaco defender. After he received the ball, he had both space and time given that Toure did not close him down aggressively and the Austrian left-back struck the ball towards the top left corner and left Trapp with no chance of stopping it.
After that, chances after chances kept on coming for the home side as they attempted to break down Frankfurt’s defensive shape. One of the methods that they took on was using lofted passes to send either Hwang or Daka into space behind the defensive line, which could lead to them being involved in a 1v1 situation with Trapp.
During the match, Frankfurt tended to play with a high defensive line in order to have players to support the press and it proved to be an efficient strategy during the first period of the match. But Salzburg capitalised this effectively by encouraging their strikers and attacking midfielder Koïta to position themselves near the defenders and waited for through passes being sent into their movement direction, similar to the shot below. They did register several chances from this attacking method as both Koïta and Daka were sent into 1v1 situations but were unable to beat the former Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper.
As mentioned, Salzburg’s attackers were usually encouraged to stay close to Frankfurt’s last defensive line in order to pin them down. They also positioned themselves in between the lines as they could offer passing options for their teammates and the home side used those direct passes to break the defensive shape and progressed the ball forward. This was when the pace of Hwang, Daka and Koïta would come in handy since they were able to move into space in between Frankfurt’s defenders to receive the through pass and then sprinted towards the 16-yard box.
They could also distribute the ball wide as the position of their attackers forced the defenders to be static and they had to shift the defensive shape along with the midfielders if they wanted to cover up space out wide. Again, similar to how Ulmer’s opening goal built up to, Salzburg capitalised Frankfurt’s overloaded area to shift the attacking direction while also encouraging both wing-backs to overlap and receive the ball from out wide. There, they had the option of either make crosses into the box or possessed a threat by themselves through long shots. This strategy was used constantly during the match given that Salzburg were a wing-oriented team and it had contributed to the team’s efficiency of creating chances.
While they were able to use their attacking strategies during open play situations, Salzburg also made the most out of counter-attacking sequences after they regained the control of the ball from Frankfurt. Hwang and Daka’s pace were constant threats for the away side as Martin Hinteregger, David Abraham and Stefan Ilsanker found themselves a bit struggle to keep up with them and had to make tackles in order to relieve the situation.
One noticeable trend that can be picked out from Salzburg’s attack was they tended to attack down the left-wing of Ulmer. The combination between the veteran wing-back with the prospect duo of Szoboszlai and Hwang contributed heavily to the efficiency of the attacks created inside the area. As Ulmer controlled the ball, the two mentioned players would drift wide to provide passing options for him and even more, they are players who can dribble with the ball and it became one of their choices as they could take on the defenders by themselves.
Their shots map also showed a similar thing which most of their chances came inside the left half-space or the left-part of the 16-yard box, which included Onguene’s header to regain the lead for Salzburg in the 72nd minute. But the problem that significantly hindered their ability to win this matchup was converting their chances. Salzburg had a high frequency of chances with 18 chances created but only one-third of them eventually found the target while 9 of those 18 chances already went wide.
It shows that the loss of Erling Haaland has hit Salzburg hard and although they have promising prospects, filling in the Norwegian’s boots won’t be an easy task. With Hwang is also on the radar of several big names in the next transfer window, it would be interesting to see how Marsch maximises the potential of Daka, Koïta, Berisha and Okafor or will he use the budget to find a striker who can bring a higher certainty when it comes to providing the goals.
Not only they carried the high determination to fulfil the expectation into their attacking play, but the players also demonstrated it when they involved in the team’s defending situations. It is very often to see Salzburg attempted to press high up the pitch in order to win the ball back inside Frankfurt’s half and started counter-attacks. They would adopt an aggressive mentality with only one goal in mind, which was to regain possession as soon as possible.
Immediately after they lost the ball, the home side would start their press by closing down the possible passing options surrounded the ball carrier. Alongside that, one player also moved close to the ball carrier and attempted to tackle the ball away from him aggressively. Usually, most of the pressing duels would take place on the edge of the middle third as the attackers acted as the first line of pressure and would close the defenders down to win the ball from them.
This explained why the Austrian side committed many fouls during the first period of the game which also hindered their chance of winning the ball back high up the pitch and creating counter-attacks. That pressing mentality was carried throughout the whole match and the level of hurriedness that the players showed risen up when they got the second goal.
In order to support the press, Salzburg had to play with a high defensive line that saw the centre-backs positioned themselves near the halfway line and even both wing-backs could move forward to join the press. This allowed them to have numbers during the press and be able to overload the central half to force the opposition to distribute wide. But it was not on every occasion that the home side were able to regain the ball thanks to their press.
During those situations, the defenders would track back and create a back-four right in front of their defensive third while calling for support from the midfielders. By remaining disciplined and sticking to their respective positions, it helped the defenders to have a good perspective on the situation itself and also being able to monitor any potential threats around them and their teammates.
At times, Kamara also offered to drop in between Ramalho and Onguéné to create a back-five and, when the wing-backs still involved in the press, a back-three. Their average formation indicated that clearly as the Malian defensive midfielder played almost like the third centre-back and switched the team’s formation into a 5–3–2. It was a good strategy as he provided another passing option for the defenders when the team played out from the back and he also supported his teammates when defending against Frankfurt’s attacks.
Another thing that can also be noticed from this is how narrow Salzburg’s team shape was. On average, the team’s length was only 34 metres (from the top striker to the last centre-back) and they kept the distance between each other very tight. As mentioned, they tended to push the team forward in order to commit players for the press and that was one of the factors which contributed to their narrow team shape throughout the match.
It is undoubted that Salzburg showed they have improved compared to the match that they lost 4–1 to Frankfurt. But that wide margin had put heavy pressure on their shoulders and it forced them to push forward right from the start. While they proved to be good in creating chances, it was the converting department that really let them down as there were a couple of chances that could have changed the game for Salzburg. In defence, their press was a success but they tended to be beaten when defending counter-attacks given that they did not have enough players to either gain numerical superiority and support the defensive transitioning period.
Frankfurt’s style of play
Frankfurt started off this match with huge confidence and relief knowing that a goalless draw would be enough to send them into the Round of 16. With a three-goal margin that they have created, this allowed the German side to be conservative in terms of approaching the match as it was important to acknowledge how would Salzburg create their attacks to defend against.
One of the most interesting points from Hütter’s tactics for this match was his flexibility in switching formation. Frankfurt eventually lined up in a 4–1–4–1 formation with Ilsanker sat in between the defensive lines as the Leipzig loanee took on the responsibility of locking the channel down. But as the game progressed, with Salzburg opted to commit players into that area, this forced the Austrian manager to instruct Djibril Sow to drop next to Ilsanker and switched the team’s defensive shape into a 4–2–3–1.
The support from the former Young Boys midfielder allowed Ilsanker to control the area more confident as they teamed up with the defenders to mark Salzburg’s attackers and prevented them from attacking the space behind them. Sebastian Rode could also be switched with Sow but it was a rare scenario as the former Dortmund player would be tasked to link Kamada and Kostić up to create a midfield three and aimed to support Andre Silva in the press.
Given that Ilsanker could also play as a centre-back, the Austrian midfielder was also given the option of dropping in between Hinteregger and Abraham to create a back-five (5–4–1) in defence. He would stay just slightly higher compared to the two centre-backs and would also be available to provide cover for them whenever one of them decided to step out from their positions. When the team shifted the shape across the pitch towards one of the flanks, either Almamy Toure or Evan N’Dicka would roam from their position to close down the ball carrier and the involvement of Ilsanker allowed Frankfurt to maintain a back-four to control zone 14 more confident.
Nonetheless of which formation they used, one key factor that they always showed off-the-ball was discipline as they rarely stepped out from their respective positions. This allowed Frankfurt’s defenders to follow the situation better while also helping them to identify any potential threats that Salzburg players could use to progress the ball into their defensive third. Given that the opposition tended to have many players in between the defensive lines, it was important that Frankfurt defenders needed to keep the attackers in sight to prevent any movements behind their backs.
Moreover, the away side also tended to stay a bit narrow in order to overload the central half of the pitch and zone 14. By having many players inside the area in front of the box, it was viable for the German side to prevent Salzburg players from creating short combinations in between each other and intercepted through passes that could potentially create dangerous chances towards Trapp’s goal.
On the opposite side of the pitch, Frankfurt attempted to press the opposition quite often as they created a man-oriented press inside Salzburg’s half. Still, given that they already had a comfortable lead before coming into this match, it was not necessary for the away side to take on an aggressive mentality in order to regain possession immediately. Instead, they opted to have a mix between a man-to-man with a zonal marking while also relying on how the situation unfolded.
The key to their press was to cut Salzburg’s available passing lanes right from their build-up phase with the aim of keeping the ball as far away from their goal as possible. Usually, Andre Silva would be the first player to start the press as he applied pressure on the centre-backs and also prevented them from creating passing triangles among themselves. But it was quite frequent to see the Portuguese striker involved in a 3v1 situation, a scenario which the disadvantage obviously leaned towards Silva. Still, not often can we see the wingers, Kamada and Kostić, moved forward and joined the press along with Silva since they opted to keep their position and not roam away from the defensive shape.
Only when Salzburg started to play out from the goal-kick that it was able to see the involvement of the midfielders as they, again, aimed to apply a man-oriented press and cut down passing lanes with the hope of winning the ball inside Salzburg’s half. There were occasions that their intention was proved to be successful as either Silva or Kostić managed to win the ball to create counter-attacks but most of those opportunities were wasted although the xG ratings of those chances were fairly decent.
There was another tactical point from Frankfurt’s defence that is also worth mentioning. When the away side defended against corners, they tended to have a routine in order to force Salzburg to make crosses deep into the box. Usually, the German side would have two players, usually Rode and Sow, standing near the flag to prevent short options from being offered and intercepted low crosses that headed into the box. Furthermore, they also had Toure marked the edge of the box to prevent any midfielders who could attack the ball from deep.
Inside the box were the names who had an aerial advantage in order to help to clear the ball. The likes of Ilsanker, Hinteregger or Abraham all comfortable with winning the ball in the air and they remained as key players when it comes to marking the opposition. To keep things much safer, Kamada and one of the mentioned names were also tasked to protect the near post and they tended to find themselves involved in a 2v1 situation against one of Salzburg’s attackers. Besides from Onguene’s goal, Frankfurt’s corners strategy had proven to be very effective since the opposition were not able to create many decent chances from the set-piece.
Being effective at their end of the pitch, Frankfurt also demonstrated their ability to convert chances at the other end despite being on the back foot for the majority of the match. The away side had to rely on counter-attacks more often in order to progress the ball forward as they did not have many opportunities to create chances from open play. But thanks to Kostić’s dribbling ability, they found a way to be more dangerous in counter-attacks as the Serbian winger would usually take on the situation by himself while encouraging Silva and Kamada to join the attack along with him.
Although not having numerical superiority against Salzburg’s defence, they still registered many shots on target with 8 out of their 12 chances had threatened Stanković. Their shots map also indicated a similar thing with most of their chances came down the left-hand side of Kostić while a number of their chances also came inside of the 16-yard box. If they were able to be more prolific in front of goal and convert a couple more of those chances, there is a chance that this tie might have ended a lot earlier.
One of the reasons that allowed Frankfurt to register many shots on target was Salzburg defenders’ marking ability. In Andre Silva’s second goal of the game, notice Ramalho’s position as he kept a considerable distance away from the Milan loanee and allowed him to continue dribbling with the ball. Furthermore, it should also be considered that it was the home side who had the numerical advantage in this situation as there were three defenders involved in this situation compared to Frankfurt’s two.
Kostić was already marked by Vallci and Onguene later on and this meant there should have been one player able to provide cover for Ramalho when he decided to step forward and make a tackle on Silva. Instead, the Brazilian centre-back thought he had no cover behind his back and decided to stay conservative. It was a reasonable decision from Ramalho but the situation could have been dealt a lot better to prevent Silva’s equaliser.
Furthermore, it is also worth noticing both teams’ possession during the match and it somewhat indicated some surprising facts. When it comes to ball possession percentage, it can be noticed that there was a significant contrast between both sides. At the start of the match, Salzburg already showed signs of dominating possession as they controlled 52% of the ball while Frankfurt only had 48%.
Things only went downhill once after that as Salzburg’s percentage continued to rise while Frankfurt’s plummetted. At the same time, the home side’s possession rate never went under 50%, which showed utter domination of the match. Given that they attempted to push the team forward on many occasions and aimed to win the ball immediately after losing it, that had explained Salzburg’s spell of dominating possession.
Frankfurt, on the other hand, never went above 50% as they went the closest to that number was 48% at the start of the match. As the German side were put on the back foot and was forced to sit back for the majority of the game, they had little opportunities to actually control the ball and executed their plans for the match. Moreover, without any significant chances created from open play, they were forced to rely on counter-attacks and direct passes, which meant short sequences of play were created and less time to control the ball.
Conclusion
After securing a dominant 4–1 win in the first leg, Frankfurt entered this match with high confidence and was no doubt the favourites to win the overall matchup. Meanwhile, pressure increased from time to time for Salzburg as they knew scoring goals was the only way to keep their hope of advancing further alive.
They eventually accomplished that by scoring two goals, but theoretically, it was not enough to send them through even if they managed to keep a clean sheet. That is not to mention Andre Silva’s brace had sent this clash between the two former semi-finalists further away from Jesse Marsch and his players. While Frankfurt managed to continue their journey in the Europa League, Salzburg need a bit of rethink about a tactic that can maximise the potential of the players that they have in hands.
Along with that, the question of replacing Haaland remains unanswered as the decision remains in between it is a necessary and an unnecessary matter. Nonetheless, it can be said that the loss of the core that had helped them advanced to the semi-final of the 2017/18 Europa League has hurt them significantly and they need to be able to recover from it.
