Tactical Analysis: RB Leipzig 3-2 Porto

Discussion in 'Germany' started by Covershadow, Oct 19, 2017.

  1. Covershadow

    Covershadow Member

    Aug 30, 2016
    Home Side Capitalized on Visitors’ Strategic Mistake in the 1st Half


    All five goals were scored in the first half. Sergio Conceicao’s decision to press using a 4-4-2 throughout the first half cost him several times. Quite surprisingly, he didn’t adjust the setup and needed to wait until the break to make changes to it. In the second half, Porto changed the defensive shape into a 4-5-1/4-1-4-1 basic shape and it resulted in a better performance.

    [​IMG]
    starting formations

    Key Location and Key Space
    [​IMG]
    37th minute. Key location and key space
    Leipzig obviously focused their attack through the left side. This was also something similar to what they were doing during the match against Borussia Dortmund last week. The space marked with a red circle is the intermediate space in front of Porto’s back line. That space was the key space for Leipzig to exploit using their typical highly narrow positional structure which was established by the front-4 chain.

    So what happened here? Halstenberg progressed the ball by making a diagonal dribble and found Forsberg free in the half space. Forsberg made an up-back-through combination with Sabitzer and managed to create a horizontal space between Porto’s central defender. A through pass by Sabitzer enabled Forsberg to shoot from the dangerous area in the penalty box that resulted in the second RBL goal.

    The progression method
    Playing the ball through the left back and progressing the ball forward into the attacking half space or flank would obviously be how the home side began the left sided attack. The other method was directly accessing the depth in the center #10 (Sabitzer) to attract Porto’s press towards the center. This would be followed by a back pass by the receiving #10 to Leipzig’s central midfielder (Kampl). The ball then would be laterally distributed to the left back (Halstenberg).

    Porto’s press = the root cause of their defensive problem
    Both of Porto’s forwards started the pressing orientation by occupying Leipzig’s double pivot. The two forwards seemed to focus o n securing the central space instead of constantly pressing the nearest opponents. Sometimes they even moved higher to go for the central defender and left some space which enabled Leipzig’s #6 duo to receive and progress the attack.

    In a middle block, Porto’s midfield four was trying to stay horizontally compact. Most of the time, the mid four would only react if any pass or Leipzig’s players came into their respective regions. If there was any situation to trigger one of Porto’s central midfield to step up to pick up the deepest Leipzig central midfielder, it was the situation when the visitors pressed in a very high block. In a very high block, both forwards would go higher and stay close to both central defenders. The task to contain the Leipzig’s #6 was taken by the nearest central midfielder (usually Sergio Oliveira).

    [​IMG]
    One of the key battles of the second half. Porto’s central attack through Torres and the effort of exploiting Leipzig’s #6 space vs how Leipzig managed to stop it by using the central defender as the secondary defensive midfielder.
    For full read, please visit this link http://bundesligafanatic.com/champions-league-tactical-analysis-rb-leipzig-vs-porto/

    Thank you for reading. You can find me on Twitter @ryantank100
     

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