Pep adjusted to RB Leipzig, considering his players' strengths. And he crushed the opponent.

Manchester City destroyed Leipzig 7-0 and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Of the players, the hero of the meeting was the striker of the English team Erling Haaland - he scored five goals. There are a lot of delights in his game. But, paying tribute to him, one cannot fail to note the decision of the head coach of the "citizens" Pep Guardiola - thanks to the mentor, the hosts had a huge advantage throughout the meeting, as a result of which the Norwegian hit eight times on goal from the penalty area.

ManCity 7:0 RB Leipzig - WATCH HIGHLIGHTS

Confirmation of the enormous advantage of Manchester City:

• 23 - 4 in strikes
• 20 - 2 shots from the box
• 66.5% - 33.5% in possession
• 91% - 79% in passing accuracy
• 647 - 332 in assists.

These are the data of WhoScored. But in the first match, the rivals played a draw, scoring one ball from each other. Now Guardiola's plan has worked completely.

In short, and so far without diving into details, Guardiola set up his team's game so that it was very inconvenient for Leipzig, whose scheme can be described as 4-4-2. During the defense of the German team, Timo Werner and Emil Forsberg meet the opponents above the other opponents, while attacking the Swede can sink into the depths, but in general, also acts high. Moving on to the details, we will conclude that the Man City manager ultimately saw through the opponent, and his players fulfilled all their plans.

When pressed, Man City mirrored the opponent's formation

Using the 4-4-2 formation when playing without the ball, Guardiola chose one of the most effective ways to destroy someone else's game. For this reason, the ball at Leipzig almost did not linger - all the players were under scrutiny.

Leipzig centre-backs were either pressed by De Bruyne and Haaland or Bernardo Silva and Grealish. If the first two did it, they blocked the line of transmission to the central midfielders; if the extreme midfielders exerted such pressure, they closed the line of transfers to the radical defenders. The players of the German team were at an impasse.

Holland's second goal is indicative. The quick attack began with his successful pressing - accelerating to the central defender Orban and, at the same time, blocking the possibility of a pass to the center of the field; the Norwegian left the opponent no options but to playback on the goalkeeper, who was forced to clear the ball hastily. In this episode, as in others, the Norwegian's partners also worked well under pressure.

During the match, Manchester City players made 11 tackles and interceptions, 8 of them in the opponent's half of the field. At the same time, the Leipzig players, under pressure, lost the ball countless times, including 19 clearances of the ball anywhere.

In possession of Man City, he excelled by creating numerical advantages

In the initial phase of ball possession, the "townspeople" used the 3-2-5 formation. Due to the triple from behind, breaking someone else's pressure was convenient because Leipzig had only two forces in the first line.

It also allowed Guardiola's team to correct their possession mistakes if they happened. But there were almost none of them: of the three defenders and two players in the support zone, only Akanji's passing accuracy dropped below 90%, but it still turned out to be at a high level - 87%.

During positional attacks, Ake went on the attack along the left edge. On the one hand, it helped to play the ball and create sharpness. He even has two key passes - more than other defenders.

On the other hand, with this style of play, Ake was an essential player in his team's transition from attack to defense, allowing Man City to destroy well far from their goal - thanks to him, the balance was achieved. As a result, he was not equal among the defenders and in interceptions - two.

When Manchester City reached the goal of others, it created an advantage in the line of Leipzig defenders due to the attacking five. Holland acted on the edge, Bernardo Silva and Grealish turned on the edges, and De Bruyne and Gundogan rose high along the half-flanks! When the opponent has four defenders, then in this line, the attacking team has a chance to create a numerical advantage, which Guardiola demonstrated.

Leipzig had no chance

When the composition of one team is more robust, and the coach develops an impeccable plan that the players implement, then the weaker team has no chance. Hence the 7:0.

Leipzig and team coach Marco Rose have nothing to blame themselves for. Man City is the first in terms of squad value (€ 1.05 billion), while the German team is only 15th (€ 493.3 million).

Perhaps the coach was arrogant when he said before the game that his team wanted a lot of possession. If the guests parked the bus, they could lose not so much. But, firstly, RB Leipzig does not play with the "bus" under Marco Rosa. Secondly, the guests had the right to take risks - after all, in the first game, the attacking style allowed the Germans to draw. And yesterday, the team that should have won. And such a City would have destroyed Leipzig with any tactics of the German club. Too good was not only Haaland but Guardiola.

ManCity 7:0 RB Leipzig - WATCH HIGHLIGHTS

15.03.2023