Bayern Munich 2-0 Juventus: Poor Pirlo and unmarked Schweinsteiger crucial

Bayern Munich further asserted their claim to the crown of Europe as they demolished Italian champions Juventus 2-0 at the Allianz Arena last night. Conte’s men were completely dominated by Bayern throughout the night, and suffered their first defeat in Europe since 2009.

This game was not affected by pre-game injuries, as both managers had enough ammunition on the field as well as bench. Heynckes played his usual 4-2-3-1 with Gustavo coming in for the suspended Martinez; the rest of the team was similar to the one that beat Arsenal at the Emirates.

Conte continued his 3-5-2 with Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini in defence. Pogba was not in the starting lineup as Pirlo, Vidal and Marchisio were selected in the middle.

Juve’s weakness before the game could be identified as their strikers, and this issue was magnified over course of the match. The Italians paired up Matri and Quagliarella upfront, and these 2 were the least impressive players on the night. In stark contrast for Bayern, Heynckes played Mandzukic as the lone striker; and the Croatian striker had a brilliant game against the likes of Chiellini and Bonucci.

Bayern press high, Juve don’t care to

Before neither the crowd, the players on the bench or the commentary box settled in, Bayern took the lead via a speculative shot from distance by Alaba. His left foot effort crept in via a slight deflection from Vidal, which changed the complete flight of the ball and wrong footed Gigi Buffon. Such an early strike put Juve’s defense on the back foot right from the first moment, and the trio of Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini maintained a very deep line for most parts of the game.

Though Juve tried to reply back immediately, the main feature lacking in the Italians’ style over Bayern’s was the pressing being implemented by the Germans. All 4 attackers: Ribery, Kroos, Muller and Mandzukic were continuously harassing the likes of Pirlo, Marchisio and Vidal with their instant closing-down.

But Juve’s pressing lacked its edge in this regard. Only Vidal to some extent was visibly energetic in his closing down of Ribery, and at times, Schweinsteiger. But even the Chilean was operating only on the right side, and the other half was left unpatrolled by the likes of Marchisio and Peluso.

Juve’s long balls from the back, Dante closes well

Due to Pirlo’s lack of forward passes, the likes of Bonucci and Barzagli tried to replicate such efforts themselves. So, we saw more long balls from the back intended for Matri or Marchisio on the left. Often, one of the strikers, usually Quagliarella, was seen dropping deep to get the ball from the defence directly. These runs were well tracked by the duo of Dante and Van Buyten.

The Bayern central defenders had a quiet game, but were at times pulled out of their position by such runs from Quagliarella. Juve could have taken advantage of such moments by feeding in an onrushing wingback, but their lack to do so dictated the proceedings of the night.

Ribery’s night of class

While Juve’s bunch upfront could do nothing to impress at the slightest, Bayern’s flock led by Ribery were scintillating at the very least. Ribery was having a gem of a game, as he wreaked havoc through the left and centre. Having started on the left against Lichtsteiner and Barzagli, Ribery quickly moved from the space between the RWB and RCB into the space just in front of the defence.

Lichtsteiner was supposed to be a major source of Juve’s attack, so he was often caught on the back foot against Ribery. And moreover, Pirlo’ s increasing intent to try to get into the game saw him move forward, thus dragging Kroos along with him; this saw Ribery shift into that space left by Pirlo in the centre, with only Vidal left to mark him there. This marking by Vidal was quite efficient, but took out the Chilean from most of Juve’s attacks.

Conte’s changes fail to impress, Pogba comes in too late

Conte had a luxury of options on the bench, and his first 2 choices, to bring on Vucinic and Giovinco for Matri and Quagliarella, did not make any sense at all. Though Juve needed 2 goals by then and bringing on 2 strikers would have been the right move on paper, Bayern’s midfield was dominating proceedings, and a player like Pogba needed to be introduced.

Vucinic came into the 2^nd striker role with Giovinvo told to run the channels, but Dante was easily able to cope with any threat that came from the diminutive striker. Vucinic brought some pace, but a lack of any support on the wings did not help the cause.

Conte’s final substitution saw Pogba come on for Peluso, and this shifted Juve to a 4-2-2-2. Chiellini shifted to left back with Pogba and Pirlo slotting into the centre; Vidal and Marchisio shuttled a bit wider with 2 strikers upfront. This formation made Juve look stronger on the attacks, especially on Lichtsteiner’s wing.

Heynckes’ substitutes barely affected the game, as Gomez and Shaqiri came in late for Mandzukic and Ribery.

On the whole, this dominating performance by Bayern was largely due to a very poor Juve attack and midfield. The role of a lone striker was perfectly portrayed by a brilliant Mandzukic, and it outlines Juve’s primary worry.

With Vidal and Lichtsteiner suspended from the return leg, Conte’s use of Pogba and Asamoah will be important, and it remains to be seen if they can reverse the tw0-goal deficit.

Top of the match: Frank Ribery

Flop of the match: Federico Peluso