This past Sunday, 06/29, Flamengo and Bayern Munich faced off in a match between the cream of what South American football can offer (and possibly the best team on the continent) against a team from the highest tier of European football (which wasn't the best of the last season) in a game marked by several things, but mainly by the number of errors on the part of the Rio team that led to the Bavarian team's goals, which raises the question: were these failures just demerits of the red-and-black team?
Match Summary
Even before the ball rolled, there was already a debate about the lineup made by Filipe Luís, for including Arrascaeta, the team's top scorer of the season, but who doesn't usually impose as much physical vigor when marking pressure or when serving as a speed escape valve for the attack, roles that would be better performed by another athlete, such as Bruno Henrique, the striker who came on in place of the Uruguayan in the group stage match against Chelsea and changed the course of the match. However, whatever the Brazilian coach's thinking was, it was completely influenced by what happened in the early minutes of the game.
The pace of the game, the strategy, and the level of pressure that would be felt throughout the 90 minutes were severely influenced when at 3 minutes and 45 seconds, the Argentine goalkeeper Rossi kicked a ball at Pulgar, which ended up resulting in a corner kick (by the referee's understanding) that generated a second one, from which came the first goal of the match, an own goal. This change in the score so quickly would already be enough to change the entire match planning, but the blitz imposed by Bayern was still in full force when the French defender Upamecano came up from the German defensive line to contest a pass received by Arrascaeta, which succeeded in Harry Kane's fatal finish, extending the score.
After this disastrous sequence of events, the Rio team managed to have more possession and try to put their game idea into practice, leading to their first goal play, resulting from a deflected cross into the penalty area with a Gerson finish, which made the Bavarian imposition return with full force.
Offensive moment of the match between Flamengo and Bayern.
As we can observe in the attacking third actions chart, this pattern repeated itself in the interval between the third and fourth goals of the Europeans, giving the impression that the German team "took their foot off" after making the result more comfortable, leaving more possession and space for the Brazilian team to work the plays, which resulted in a second goal after the Uruguayan midfielder's cross hit Olise's open hand inside the area, generating a penalty converted with precision by Jorginho. This pattern repeated itself after this reduction in the score advantage, with the pace being imposed by Bayern and with pressure on a ball exit where Luiz Araújo tried to dribble near the defensive penalty area, turning into a precise shot from the English striker.
This norm in the game dynamics can help explain the fact that at the end of the match some data showed a Flamengo equivalent or superior to Bayern (such as a minimal advantage in possession, a greater number of shots, xG), although the Rio team was not very close to equalizing the score (the closest chance came from an Arrascaeta header at 6 minutes of play), the eye test points to the contrary, a Bayern that dictated the pace when the advantage decreased and that didn't take as many risks.
Tactical Analysis
Regarding the question of errors, forced or not, they can be contextualized, in part, by the difference in quality between the two teams in various aspects, but mainly in the effectiveness of pressure and efficiency in punishing the opposing team's errors, and one of the justifications for these issues can be, besides the quality of the players on the field, due to the history of German teams having this historical habit of pressing high, after all, gegenpressing comes from there.
The concept of marking by pressing in attack is not something that was created recently, but this style of football, especially in the context of German football, is attributed to German coach Ralf Rangnick, who influenced modern generations of German coaches, such as Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, and Julian Nagelsmann. Additionally, the German league is known for the high level of athleticism imposed by the players, fundamental factors for teams like Klopp's Borussia or Hansi Flick's Bayern Munich to establish their game plans brutally, having vigor to move up the marking line, attack spaces quickly, etc.
This very high-pressure football, combined with the high marking line, has been in the club's DNA for a long time, and besides being very well refined by recent coaches, such as Nagelsmann and Hansi Flick, they are put into practice by Kompany, the current coach, while the ephemerality of Brazilian coaches' work combined with the lack of conviction in fixed game styles for clubs, makes it difficult for the work to be much refined here, and for there to be an exploited sequence even with coach changes.
Conclusion
In the end, the Brazilian team did what they could, especially given the circumstances, and lost in a dignified manner, and although they were far from making a head-to-head match, it doesn't mean that the defeat was a disgrace or something of the sort, and this defeat cannot shake the structures of both the squad and the entire football department because the season is only at its halfway point, with the most decisive matches for national competitions and the Copa Libertadores very close.
The match between Flamengo and Bayern demonstrated not only the technical difference between the teams, but also the importance of tactical consistency and efficient pressure in modern football. While Bayern showed its tradition of high pressure and finishing efficiency, Flamengo revealed fragilities that need to be worked on to compete at the highest international level.
The defeat, although heavy on the scoreboard, serves as valuable learning for the development of Brazilian football, showing that tactical evolution and methodological consistency are fundamental for success in the international scenario.
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