Unreleased article: Bundesliga 2019/20 — RB Leipzig vs Augsburg — 22/12/2019
(This article was written back in Christmas Day of 2019 and several information might not be accurate to the current day. I’m really apologise for that inconvenience caused when reading this article.)
In a clash between the two teams who were enjoying a good run of form, Martin Schmidt’s Augsburg travelled to RB Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena with the hope of entering the race for European football. Five wins over the last six Bundesliga games was an impressive record and it was understandable to see why they approached this match with high confidence. Meanwhile, leader RB Leipzig needed a positive result as they aimed to create a gap between the top spot and second-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach since Julian Nagelsmann’s side only led the trophy race on goal difference.
And the home side managed to come out with what they aimed for at the end of the day through three goals by Konrad Laimer, Patrik Schick and Yussuf Poulsen. This tactical analysis will provide an analysis of Leipzig’s 3–1 win over Augsburg. Meanwhile, using statistics, we will point out the noticeable tactical points in Nagelsmann’s tactics and Schmidt’s tactics.
Lineups
After a period that saw Nagelsmann rotated the starting formation on several occasions, Leipzig were now settled for a 4–4–2 formation that saw Timo Werner and Patrik Schick led the line. As they came from behind to secure a point against Borussia Dortmund last time around, the German manager did not have any fresh player being named on the treatment list.
Still, the likes of Willi Orban and Ibrahima Konate remained on the sideline through injuries. This left the former Hoffenheim manager with the option of playing Lukas Klostermann as one of the centre-backs and paired him up with Dayot Upamecano. In the middle of the half, Kevin Kampl also missed out as he continued to recover from his injury but he welcomed back the service of the American youngster Tyler Adams, who started the game as a right-back.
Before the match, Schmidt already had a long list of absentees and Rani Khedira was the next one to enter the list as the former Leipzig midfielder missed out through suspension. In terms of formation, he opted to use a 4–4–2 formation but can be seen as a 4–4–1–1 on many occasions since Sergio Cordova dropped from his position quite often. There were thoughts that Phillip Max might start the match since he seemed to be adapting to his new attacking role and pushed Ruben Vargas to the bench. Instead, things went contrast as Vargas kept his left midfielder position and Max was registered on the bench alongside Austrian midfielder Michael Gregoritsch and Andre Hahn.
The other names being included in the treatment list included centre-backs Marek Suchy and Felix Götze, who were missed out through injuries. Thus, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Felix Uduokhai continued to link up with each other at the heart of Augsburg’s defence. Carlos Gruezo was another player who remained on the sideline and with Khedira also absented, Tin Jedvaj was converted into a central midfielder since Jan Moravek just returned from his problems.
Augsburg’s flexible formation and their first-half dominance
As the subheading suggests, it was clear that Augsburg lined up in a 4–4–2 formation but could also be switched into a 4–4–1–1 when Cordova decided to drop back and supported the midfielders. The clear advantage that the home side gained when choosing this formation was to have two distinctive defensive lines that could monitor Leipzig’s attacks and at times, even neutralised it. Surprisingly, though, the formation was used more often during the team’s press as they allowed strikers Cordova and Florian Niederlechner to press Leipzig’s centre-backs and attempted to tackle the ball away from them.
At the same time, the midfield line was also happy to push up and provided support for the two strikers up front. This created two pressing lanes that helped Augsburg to gain an advantage during the press and prevented Leipzig from breaking the press down. Indeed, as the home side tended to be found struggling in several situations and was forced to circulate the ball among themselves.
It is not quite often to see a striker who was willing to drop in between the space of Niederlechner and the midfielders below to work there during periods where the possession was lost. Strikers would be expected to press hard and stayed on the front line to help them have numbers during the press. But not Augsburg, given the fact that they already lined up in a 4–4–2, it was viable for Cordova to move back and created a midfield five centrally.
This prevented Leipzig from progressing the ball into the final third as several of their players were usually caught by the midfield line themselves. It was also the strategy where Schmidt required his players to be disciplined as they didn’t want to mess up the structure and, therefore, created space for the likes of Werner or Schick to move into. They had to maintain the position while also looking for space surrounded him and covered every possible gap that Leipzig midfielders were able to make passes into.
But, that variation was not the only formation being seen from the match, especially during defensive situations where Leipzig attempted to create attacks from open play. Usually, when Vargas dropped down into a wing-back, left-back Iago would tuck inside and formed a back-three along with two centre-backs. They received support from the wing-backs themselves and it allowed them to stretch wide more often to occupy at best the half-spaces and the central area.
The same can be said about the midfield line as there were now only four players to move flexible across the final third to intercept passes and through balls. They also attempted to keep the distance as narrow as possible and at times, even encouraged the defensive line to move up a bit and created an offside trap. Since Leipzig’s strikers usually sat on the shoulder of defenders, it was a crucial strategy that helped catching Werner and Schick offside.
Nonetheless of which formation it was, Augsburg players tended to focus on being disciplined during situations where they didn’t control possession. Acknowledging Leipzig’s attacking threat was a trait that the visitor showed magnificently during the match that neutralised not only their strikers but attacking midfielders as well. This allowed them to anticipate the direction of passes to intercept it while also tracking the run of the advanced players and eliminate the possibility of entering the final third off the ball. Also, with the option of giving Leipzig more time on the ball, it gave the players a clear perspective on the situation and assessed the best solution that can be made to stop the attack.
During scenarios, it was possible to see Gouweleeuw and Uduokhai stretched out to tackle the ball from Leipzig players without committing a foul on them. Besides from their strength of having a long leg span, being able to know what the opposition’s players would do next helped them to execute their intention and kept the team’s goal clean. Statistically speaking, the two centre-backs registered the highest number of interceptions among the squad with ten and nine respectively, while also had seven and ten clearances to their names.
Another trait that can also be seen from Augsburg’s defensive juggernaut was swarming their 16-yard box. The intention of this was to prevent long shots being made since Augsburg already won the numerical superiority and it allowed them to have more players focused on defending the central area. Therefore, Leipzig had no choice but to use rockets in order to break the defensive shape down and found a way towards Tomaš Koubek’s goal.
Given the fact that they were constantly being put on the back foot, Augsburg did a good job in keeping Leipzig’s attackers quiet for the majority of the match. Especially inside the first half, the home side didn’t enjoy much success in terms of getting the ball into the back of the net amid their three on target chances. The solidity of the defence was also supported by the reliability of Koubek as the former Rennes goalkeeper saved many crucial chances during both halves. He had a good performance in terms of keeping the team from being conceded, and if not for the three goals that were scored, he could have been the hero for Augsburg.
Offensively, Augsburg tended to play out from the back using the passing ability of Gouweleeuw and Udoukhai. But playing against a team who usually applied pressure on the build-up required the players to be good in terms of positioning themselves in a position where they had times and space to receive the ball. The situation below clearly demonstrated it as the idea of two centre-backs stretching out allowed one central midfielder to drop in between them and received the ball. Since Werner and Schick already followed the centre-backs, it was hard for them to move away from their markers while also being able to control other Augsburg’s players in the surrounded area.
When the ball reached the central midfielders, he immediately noticed the gap between Leipzig’s defensive lines. Combined with Marco Richter’s intelligent positioning to capitalise the space in that area, it was viable for him to connect with the ball carrier and progressed the ball up the pitch.
On several occasions, Leipzig tended to apply pressure heavily on Augsburg’s defenders as they aimed to win the ball back high up the pitch for a counter-attack. There, they committed many players forward in order to overload certain areas inside Augsburg’s half and suffocated the ball carrier at the same time. But it was during those situations where it is possible to see how good Augsburg’s build-up were.
In the shot below, notice how the passing triangles were formed in between four Augsburg’s players. They used a third-man concept constantly to circulate the ball out of the pressure zone with one player positioned himself near the ball carrier and also gave himself a bit of free space to execute the next pass while the other one arrived a bit later as he would become the focal point to move the ball out of the overloaded area. Leipzig’s press in the situation below was bypassed easily with Augsburg players moved the ball quickly and through one-touch passes, which made the task of recovering possession much tougher for the home side.
Inside the final third, Augsburg were more of a dangerous team when it comes to counter-attacks. They had the likes of Marco Richter, Ruben Vargas or Iago, who tended to dribble with the ball more often. Whenever they received the ball, the pace would become the key factor that helped them drove forward and brought their teammates into play by encouraging them to follow behind his back. Not only did pace benefitted them when they were controlling possession, but also allowed them to be in a good position to connect with their teammates when they were off the ball.
As the situation developed inside the final third, Augsburg’s wide players tended to arrive a bit late as they wanted to find pockets of space where they could overlap into. Using their pace, it was viable for them to reach one of the pockets in several seconds and offered to pick up the ball at the same time. With Richter in the shot below, that happened to be the case as he managed to capitalise the space behind Marcel Halstenberg to receive the lofted pass from Daniel Baier. A delicate first touch and a flick over his head to eliminate the former St. Pauli defender and Christopher Nkunku, combined with a precise cross into the box for Niederlechner, it was enough to bring Augsburg the opening goal of the game.
Leipzig’s press and their plan to turn the game around
With just a few minutes into the match, Leipzig were immediately being put on the back foot through Niederlechner’s goal in the seventh minute. Not to mention, the visitor created a stubborn defensive juggernaut that were hard to break down, which contributed significantly in a struggling first half for Leipzig. They were still able to create chances towards Koubek’s goal, but while most of them hit the target, the Czech Republic goalkeeper had a terrific day and they did not find the equalising goal before the first half ended.
With that in mind, it was understandable to see why Leipzig immediately pushed their mentality up a notch right after the goal. In possession, the home side still focused on playing out from the back using a three-man build-up. The decision of using Halstenberg as an inverted wing-back and allowed him to join the build-up phase was an interesting one given the fact that Nagelsmann also used Klostermann as the right centre-back.
By having two wing-backs involving in the build-up phase allowed Leipzig to progress the ball up the field in a quicker way through capitalising their dribbling ability. With Upamecano dropping into the central role, the French centre-back also moved a bit deeper compared to his colleagues and left the responsibility of connecting with the advanced players for Halstenberg and Klostermann. The German duo would receive the ball from Upamecano, then used their pace to drive forward while also looking for potential receivers up front to lay their passes towards.
At times, they also created a 4v2 situation with Diego Demme involved in the build-up and offered to connect the passing block with the midfielders up front. While Augsburg didn’t press too aggressive, this still allowed them to maintain the numerical advantage during the build-up phase. In case Cordova and Niederlechner attempted to press the back-line, they would still have enough player to cope with the press.
Inside the final third, Leipzig had many options to progress the ball towards and continued the team’s attack. One of their main uses, though, was through balls as it allowed the midfielders to find the strikers up front. On several occasions, it was possible to notice Werner and Schick positioned themselves on the shoulder of Augsburg defenders intending to use their pace to turn up at the end of through passes. One of them would move to behind the back of the defender as the ball carrier laid the ball through the gaps in between the defenders.
Besides from creating chances from open play, Leipzig also made the most out of their best, counter-attacks. As usual, Werner played a key role in these situations as he used his pace to connect with the through balls that were made and then sprinted forward towards the 16-yard box. It seemed like a very familiar scene at Leipzig whenever the former Stuttgart striker started the match, but it is always a tough situation to deal with for the opposition as there are not many defenders who could keep up with his pace.
Another trait of his that can also be seen from this match was he tended to drift wide more often. From his position, Werner usually moved flexibly across the halves and even found himself playing out wide on several occasions. Still, it was a useful strategy as this sparked confusion among the defenders of who should they focus their attention on. Since Werner constantly roamed from his position, Augsburg defenders found its hard to follow his run and this allowed him to be in a free state for several times during the match.
Still, the goal that turned the game upside down for the home side came from a corner situation. During the latter stage of the match, Leipzig started to increase their mentality and as a result, more chances were created and with Augsburg’s defensive shape stood still, several of those chances resulted in a corner. Eventually, one would have to be converted into a goal for them and it was the situation occurred in the 79th minute.
Before Nkunku took the corner, Schick already found himself a good position to stand into as he noticed several Augsburg defenders were moving towards the near post. He ran in behind their backs and positioned himself in free space to connect with the cross. With no significant pressure being applied on him, the Roma loanee was able to head home the goal that would turn the game for Leipzig.
Conclusion
For the majority of the match, Augsburg were the team who took control of the match since they defended well and kept things tighten at their own end. Up front, amid the fact that they weren’t able to create many chances towards Peter Gulacsi’s goal, they got what they needed which was Niederlechner’s goal to at least put them in front.
But with Leipzig started to up the game and increased the mentality, the visitor had no choice but to sit back and defended for the remainder of the match. While their efforts were deserved to be credited as the players put more than what they had to keep that narrow lead alive, it was inevitable that Leipzig would score at least one goal with the home side managed to create too many chances towards Koubek’s goal. In the end, three points were kept at the Red Bull Arena but Augsburg should leave this match with their heads held high as the style that they put on the field today was incredible. For Leipzig, that three points remained crucial in the race to the top spot and they will want to keep this momentum until the end of the season to keep their hope of winning the first Bundesliga title in the club’s history alive.
