I think Bayern under Heynckes last year was a perfect blend of both systems. They'd tried to retain possession generally but were not obsessed by it like Tiki Taka and were more than willing to play on the counter if the opponent could be caught out. This is what made them so dangerous.

I think Bayern Tiki-taka is way different than Barça, they kept the ball under Pep when the job was done.
They are not obliged to attak 90 min a game, actually its too early to judge a coach system the first year specially after the famous treble...
The diference between last year and this year is that last year, they were Hungry for lifting the CL trophy as they failed twice in the final in recent years, but its just more difficult to have the same HUNGER after lifting all trophies...
Pep squad already adapted to different tactics against strong teams, but i clearly see a lack of determination comparing to last year.
Fot the system, he is one of the best in the world if not the best actually. (In My opinion).

Fred got it spot on.

Pep has not improved Bayern. Last season under Heynckes, Bayern made tiki taka obsolete when they thrashed them 7-0.
He inherited the best team in Europe and has changed almost everything. Yeah, he won Bundesliga in record time but at what cost. 86% boring possession games? Look at Liverpool this season, playing beautiful attacking football that is also effective. . Pep's Bayern couldn't break a very weak ManU when City and Liverpool had convincingly defeated them at home.
I guarantee Bayern will not win CL this year. Even PSG last season came very close to knocking Barca out and since then they have become much more stronger.

For me Real Counter Attacking wins . It was breath taking . Fast and furious like a tornado just like Liverpool this season . I love this kind of football when players rush towards the goal like they are running for their lives . Goals happen within one or two passes . Football is simple no need to complicate it .

Also I agree with above Last years Bayern was way more impressive than this years .

@wolfie I agree . Bayern won't win this year . I am still shocked that Real did not win last year . I thought most devastating football was played by Real Madrid . THat first leg against Dortmund was total none sense to me , because Real was not themselves at all .

Tiki-taka beats counter attack

counter attack beats parking the bus

parking the bus beats tiki-taka...

and we have a rock-paper-scissors game here...

oh and by the way... Pep's Bayern would totally kick Heynche's Bayern's ass.

@Tuanis

Uh, counter-attacking mixed with high pressing is actually the perfect method for beating tiki-taka (contrary to the popular belief of "parking the bus", Barca find it more difficult to beat opposition who press high than they do if the opposition parks the bus).

And your logic has flaws. I don't quite understand what you mean by "counter attack beats barking (*parking) the bus". If Chelsea park the bus against Real Madrid, Madrid would have no way of counter-attacking. There is no "counter attack" if the opposition is sitting deep in their own half. It's just not possible.

Barcelona has recently lost more games to teams who wait on them to make the move, while they stay strong in defence. It was just a random opinion, parking the bus wont win you games unless you counterattack as well, so that would be the main problem there. And counter attacking is the only way to beat a team who is parking the bus, those teams usually go past mid field you know... so the only way to beat them is attacking when they are not in bus formation.

@Tuanis

You are missing the picture here. If one team (for example, Chelsea) park the bus against (example again) Real Madrid, Madrid would have loads and loads of possession, but won't be able to counter-attack because Chelsea would be sitting deep. Far too deep for anyone but Chelsea forwards to counter-attack. It's not possible for Real to counter-attack if Chelsea absolutely refuse to go into Real's half.

And no, I'm not sure you even watch Barcelona games. The most difficult games Barcelona have had recently (Manchester City, Real Madrid, Atletico, Bilbao, and Sociedad) have all (I repeat, ALL) pressed high into Barcelona's half. Watch a couple of those games, and you'll see just how high the teams have been pressing them, and just how suffocated Barcelona's midfield feels when they are placed in that situation. Sitting deep and waiting like Chelsea did in 2013 will hardly win you a game against Barca. That's what teams do all the time, and they still lose 4-0, 5-0. You need to press if you want to beat Barca.

I agree, neither Barcelona nor Bayern have really improved. Barcelona never changed their defense, and Bayern never increased their level of play.