In the Zone: Bayern 1-1 Man City performance analysis

Manchester City advanced to a third successive UEFA Champions League semi-final after holding Bayern München to a draw in Germany in their quarter-final second leg on Wednesday.

In this article brought to you by FedEx, the UEFA Technical Observer Panel looks at several key tactical features from Wednesday night's contest, including Dayot Upamecano's line-breaking passes – and how City tightened up defensively in the second half, closing down Bayern to better effect.

Goals

0-1: Erling Haaland (57)

He had put a first-half penalty over the crossbar and then spurned a good opportunity earlier in the second half. Yet the Norwegian's confidence is as strong as his appetite for goals. And this 12th goal of his Champions League campaign showcased how well he combines with Kevin De Bruyne as City broke with speed and precision (see the fourth video below). Running at Upamecano, the Norwegian took full advantage of the defender's slip on the edge of the box as he strode clear to bury a shot beyond Yann Sommer.

1-1: Joshua Kimmich (83pen)

Over the two legs, Bayern had 31 shots including eight by Leroy Sané. This collective total was second only to Napoli's 39 in this quarter-final round – and seven more than City managed – yet they needed a penalty kick to belatedly get the ball past Ederson with Kimmich placing his spot kick down the middle after Manuel Akanji had been penalised for handball.

Player of the Match: Kevin De Bruyne

The Belgian's pass to Haaland yielded his 26th assist of this season – five of them in the Champions League – and there was rich praise from the UEFA match observer who said: "His vision and awareness are simply top class. He dictates the game for City and was a joy to watch this evening, coming up with yet another assist."

Team formations

Bayern

Bayern set up in their familiar 4-2-3-1 with two changes from the first leg as the fit-again Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (13) came in to lead the attack in place of Serge Gnabry. Further back João Cancelo (22) started on the left side of the defence against his parent club, replacing Alphonso Davies.

Man City

This was the same City starting XI as in the first leg and their attacking structure was again a 3-2-4-1 with John Stones (5) stepping out of central defence to join Rodri (16) in midfield. Both were always available to receive the ball and they switched the play extremely well, according to the match observer.

Without the ball City looked comfortable in a mid-to-low block, notably second half. Finally, there were times they shifted to a 4-4-1-1 set-up with Bernardo Silva (20) playing behind Haaland (9).

Features

One admirable aspect of Bayern's performance was the way they were able to progress the ball past the City press and this first video offers two such examples. Both times they advance deep into opposition territory after finding space between and behind the lines.

In the first clip, Matthijs de Ligt's ball from the back takes out six City players in a sequence which ends with a shooting opportunity. It was not just their passing either. As Sané reflected afterwards: "We had them under control, pressured really well and won lots of balls in midfield." And, as Sané added, there might have been a closer scoreline had he converted an early opportunity after breaking clear on the left. "If I had scored, I'd like to know what would have happened."

To elaborate further on Bayern's success in getting the ball into dangerous spaces, a key figure in this respect was Upamecano, their right-sided centre-back. The three clips in this second video above highlight his ability to pick a pass, starting with the pass he plays to Kingsley Coman in space between the lines in Clip 1.

Moving forward, in the third clip we see him feed Benjamin Pavard with a ball down the line after Jack Grealish, the City left winger, wanders inside, leaving Pavard with space on that flank – a point we will return to in the next video.

To stay with Upamecano, though, his role is highlighted by the fact he played more line-breaking passes (21) than any other player in Champions League action this week. As for Bayern's collective total, they made 174 line-breaking passes across the 180 minutes of this two-legged quarter-final, almost double the 93 that City made.

To switch the spotlight to City, the UEFA analysis unit observed how they adjusted in the second half to restrict the spaces that Bayern had found with their passing in the first period.

The video above shows their compact shape and, moreover, the role Grealish played in the second half in stopping Bayern getting forward. "Jack helped us defend," said Guardiola afterwards and in the first clip the England attacker closes down first Pavard and then Kimmich, limiting their passing options. We see more of the same in the second clip as he jumps on Pavard, forcing him to play back to the centre-halves. To offer another measure of Grealish's defensive work in Munich, the City winger contributed more ball recoveries (seven) than any other visiting player bar Rodri (nine).

If City's defensive efforts were pivotal, their attacking talents caught the eye of the technical observer panel too – notably the counterattacking powers of De Bruyne and Haaland.

The video above offers two examples, starting with a rapid move which produces a shooting chance for Haaland not long before his goal. There is an admirable speed and precision about City's work in Clip 1: the touch from Grealish, the instant lay-off from Haaland and then De Bruyne releasing Grealish into space in the Bayern half as City suddenly fashion a 3v3 scenario.

The second clip, meanwhile, shows the Haaland goal which comes barely 15 seconds after Coman's near miss at the other end. There is the trademark driving run from De Bruyne and Haaland's movement towards the inside-left channel as he speeds forward before then homing in on the penalty box, profiting from Upamecano's loss of balance to hammer the ball home.

The match observer praised Haaland's all-around contribution, be it as a target man or to combine with De Bruyne or Bernardo behind him and "most of all with his quick running behind the defence as his timing and the positions he runs into are so dangerous".

Coaches' assessments

Thomas Tuchel, Bayern coach: "We didn't get any momentum in both matches... We had chances in the first match and we had them for sure today in the first half and even in the second half. We never managed to get this goal to be in the lead and to get this goal, to get the lead and get the momentum and the last [bit of] confidence you only get when you're in the lead. [City's goal] It came right after a big chance for us so altogether we got punished for not a lot, again. We created a lot and when the moment was there we couldn't score."

Pep Guardiola, Man City manager: "We struggled in the first half. Upamecano broke all the lines and then on our left side we struggled a lot with Coman and everyone. We defended really well in the box and after our momentum came, and the second half was much better. Jack helped us to defend these pockets."

Bernardo Silva, Man City midfielder: "Erling is a special player, a different player to what we had in the past. He doesn't need many touches. He is like a shadow for 85 minutes, touches the ball once and it's a goal. When we have that special player in attack, it makes us feel more comfortable at the back."