After two draws, six goals: Luis Díaz scores three and sets up one as Bayern go through Leipzig's back line again and again, and go top.
The numbers
| FC Bayern München | RB Leipzig | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 62% | 38% |
| Shots | 29 | 12 |
| xG | 3.4 | 0.84 |
| Touches in opp. box | 48 | 23 |
| Passes in the final third | 225 | 62 |
Result the chances deserved: FC Bayern München 85% / 10% / RB Leipzig 6% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
FC Bayern München (4-2-3-1): Urbig, Laimer, Upamecano, Kim Min-jae, Brown, Kimmich, Pavlović, Olise, Saibari, Luis Díaz, Kane.
RB Leipzig (4-3-3): Vandevoordt, Klostermann, Orbán, Lukeba, Raum, El Aynaoui, Reitz, Banzuzi, Gruda, Nkunku, Nusa.
RB Leipzig subs: Seiwald & Gomis (46', Banzuzi & Nkunku), Henrichs & Rômulo (59', Klostermann & Nusa; FC Bayern gives 60'), Maksimović (71', Reitz). Leipzig coach: Martín Demichelis. FotMob lists Leipzig's shape as 4-5-1; FC Bayern lists three midfielders behind Gruda, Nkunku and Nusa.
Cards: FotMob lists a yellow card for Laimer (51'); FC Bayern's report records none. Attendance 75,000, sold out (FC Bayern).
Key moments, move by move
- Kimmich has the ball near halfway, right of centre, and looks up.
- Luis Díaz sets off from the left, on Klostermann's shoulder.
- Kimmich's high ball drops over the back line into his stride.
- Díaz takes it on and finishes into the left corner.
- Kane hits a long pass from deep towards the left channel.
- Díaz holds off his marker and drives towards the byline.
- Pavlović has run forward from midfield, and Díaz squares it to him.
- Pavlović finishes at the near post from a tight angle.
- Leipzig lose the ball building out, and Laimer moves it on to Olise.
- Olise plays it inside to Kane.
- Kane returns it into Olise's path at the edge of the box.
- Olise drives a low left-foot shot into the corner.
- Bayern attack straight from the restart; Kane has the ball in the middle.
- Kane's left-footed pass sends Díaz away down the left.
- Díaz cuts inside past his marker.
- He places a right-foot shot into the bottom right corner.
- Díaz has the ball in the left channel.
- He slips it down the line for Brown's overlapping run.
- Brown reaches the byline and squares it across the six-yard box.
- Kane pokes it in from close range.
- Kimmich takes a corner short and quickly on the right.
- Olise and Díaz swap passes at the corner of the box.
- Díaz shapes to shoot with the box crowded in front of him.
- His low curling shot finds the far corner. Bundesliga.com put the chance at 4%.
- Gruda finds substitute Maksimović in front of the Bayern box.
- Maksimović hits it hard.
- It goes in off the underside of the crossbar.
Díaz in behind Leipzig's right side
- One pass in behind. Kimmich's high ball put Luis Díaz through for the opener (12'), and Kane's long pass from deep started the 2–0 (26'). FC Bayern counted only two passes from their own box to the goal for the second.
- The left channel. Díaz scored three and set up Pavlović; he also played Brown in down the left for Kane's 5–0 (53'). FotMob rated him 9.8. Klostermann, Leipzig's right-back, was FotMob's lowest-rated starter and went off just before the hour.
- Won back, then forward. Bayern pressed straight after losing the ball, and Leipzig rarely escaped (FC Bayern). The 3–0 came from a Leipzig build-up that broke down. Bayern made 225 passes in the final third to Leipzig's 62 and put 17 of their 29 shots on target (FC Bayern).
- Kim Min-jae and Upamecano behind it. Kim started at left centre-back and played 77 minutes; Leipzig had no shot on target until Raum's at 78' (FC Bayern) and scored only after Bayern's changes. Starnews counts 66 of his 68 passes completed and four of five long balls; FotMob rated him 7.4.
Tactical scenes
Bayern pressed as soon as they lost the ball and pushed onto Leipzig's centre-backs when they tried to build. Leipzig rarely got out: the 3–0 came from one of their build-ups breaking down, and their first shot on target came at 78'.
Evidence: Bayern made 225 passes in the final third to Leipzig's 62, and Leipzig's first shot on target came at 78' (FC Bayern). FotMob: 48 touches in Leipzig's box to 23. FC Bayern: match analysis · FC Bayern match report · FotMob match page
With Díaz stretching the left, Olise kept arriving from the right into the box. One-on-one at 29', Vandevoordt turned his shot onto the post; at 34' he scored from the edge of the box; at 75' his first-time shot from Stanišić's pass hit the bar.
Evidence: Bayern had 29 shots, 17 of them on target (FC Bayern); Olise hit the post (29') and the bar (75') as well as scoring (FC Bayern match report). FotMob rated him 9.1. FC Bayern match report · FC Bayern: match analysis · FotMob match page
Recreate it in FM26
FC Bayern München · Win it high, then go in behind straight away · 4-2-3-1Show cardHide card
Win it high, then go in behind straight away
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Urbig | Sweeper Keeper | Sweeper Keeper |
| RB | Laimer | Full-Back | Pressing Full-Back |
| RCB | Upamecano | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LCB | Kim Min-jae | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LB | Brown | Wing-Back | Pressing Full-Back |
| RDM | Kimmich | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Pavlović | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Pressing Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Olise | Inside Forward | Winger |
| AM | Saibari | Attacking Midfielder | Tracking Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Luis Díaz | Inside Forward | Inside Outlet Winger |
| ST | Kane | Deep-Lying Forward | Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Passing DirectnessMore Direct
- Attacking TransitionCounter-Attack
- Progress ThroughLeft
- Attacking WidthWider
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementHigh Press
- Defensive TransitionCounter-Press
- Defensive LineHigher
The idea: Win it high, then go straight away: a Deep-Lying Playmaker and a Deep-Lying Forward look for an Inside Forward running behind the full-back. You need passers who can hit a 40-metre ball and a winger who times his run off it.
What FM26 can't copy: FM26 can't reproduce Leipzig's own build-up errors, or a night when 17 of 29 shots were on target.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Karl on at 75' not 59' (for Kane), Pavlović kept on; Bischof on at 75'. Keep Kane and Pavlović on until 75' instead of four changes at 59'. It keeps the long-ball threat and the midfield that shut Leipzig out for an hour. The result doesn't change; the late goal probably doesn't happen. It moves FC Bayern München's win chance from 85% to 88% (xG 3.40–0.84 becomes 3.55–0.74). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer FC Bayern München needed
Jonathan Tah
Leipzig had no shot on target until 78' and scored at 90+1', both after Kim went off and Bayern had made five changes. Tah for Kim at 77' keeps a recognised centre-back pairing and the high line in place for the last quarter-hour, and gives Kim's legs the same rest before Arsenal.
Moisés Caicedo
Bayern's grip came from winning the ball back straight away; once Pavlović went off with three others at 59', Leipzig started to get out and had their first shot on target at 78'. A screening midfielder who covers ground and wins duels in front of the back four keeps that counter-press going for 90 minutes.
What the analysts said
“After the last two results, I think it was important to make a statement, and we did that from the first minute.”Harry Kane (FC Bayern website)
“That was really impressive. We were focused and all over them from the start.”Max Eberl, Bayern board member for sport (FC Bayern website)
“The first 60 minutes were a very good performance.”Joshua Kimmich (FC Bayern website)
“We got nowhere near our limit and did very little of what we wanted to do.”Willi Orbán, RB Leipzig (FC Bayern website)
“In the end, you just have to congratulate the opponent.”Martín Demichelis, RB Leipzig coach (FC Bayern website)
Bayern needed a game like this, and Leipzig left them the space for it.
What's happening. Bayern 6–1 RB Leipzig, after two draws in a row. Luis Díaz scored three and set up one, and Bayern led 3–0 at half-time. Saturday's results put them top of the Bundesliga, level on points with Dortmund and ahead on goal difference.
How it works. When Bayern won the ball, the first pass went forward, not sideways. Leipzig held a high back four, so one long ball from Kimmich or Kane was enough to put Díaz behind Klostermann. The full-backs pushed on too: Brown's run to the byline made the fifth. The cost of playing this way is that a bad long pass gives the ball straight back, so the press behind it has to work every time. Here it did.
What the shots say. By FotMob's numbers Bayern's chances were worth under four goals, and they scored six. One reading: this is the Augsburg game in reverse, with finishing running hot this time. The other: Bayern again made more than three goals' worth of chances, and over several games the chances matter more than the scores. Leipzig's goal came only after Bayern's five changes.