In the Zone: How Leverkusen's patient game overcame Inter

How do you break down the most stubborn defence in this season's UEFA Champions League? That was the question Bayer Leverkusen had to answer at home against Inter on Tuesday night.

The Italian champions arrived having not conceded a single goal in their five previous games and, set up in a solid block, they impressed UEFA technical observer Roy Hodgson with their organisation and discipline.

"It was very difficult for Leverkusen to pass their way through as the Inter defence was well-organised and disciplined, the shape was good, they screened off the area in front of their back line, and the three centre-backs were excellent," said the former Inter coach.

And yet Xabi Alonso's men found a way through with Nordi Mukiele's 90th-minute goal and – in this analysis brought to you by FedEx – Hodgson, working together with the UEFA analysis unit, explains the attacking approach which paid dividends in the end.

The first clip in the video shows the best opportunity Leverkusen created in the first half, Nathan Tella's shot against the crossbar. Although this was in the third minute, it was a night when Leverkusen did not simply fly forward, and the positioning of the home players in this clip is instructive. We see the Leverkusen centre-backs high upfield. By positioning all their outfield players in the attacking third, close to their opponents, this benefited their defensive balance in the event of losing the ball.

Coach Xabi Alonso said afterwards that this was a "really mature performance" from his German title holders. He praised their "good control emotionally" against opponents with a strong counterattacking threat, and added: "We had a good stability, good structure, good movement, [with] not many silly balls that we lost to give them the chance to run where they are very good. To defend with the ball as well was really important."

Another detail to note here is the movement of Exequiel Palacios before he receives the ball, the Argentinian taking a step back to increase the distance between him and the Inter defenders. When Alessandro Bastoni does step out to him, the space behind the centre-back is then exploited by Jeremie Frimpong with his cross to Tella.

On Frimpong, the creator in clip one, Hodgson observed that "he had some moments" which demonstrated that, to penetrate a defence like Inter's, it helps to "have a very skilful winger with his ability to dribble and get past a defender". The attacker also features at the end of the second clip, which begins with Granit Xhaka dropping into the back three as Leverkusen build play and then proceeds with Florian Wirtz showing his threat between the lines.

It is interesting to consider how Leverkusen get the ball to him here: because of Inter's screening, Xhaka cannot pass to him directly and so goes via a third man, Palacios, whose first-time pass sets up Wirtz to run at the Inter back line and feed Frimpong for his near-miss.

Wirtz ended the match having received the most balls between the lines of any player (27), while Palacios ranked first for line-breaking passes (11).

Summing up the action, Hodgson cited the composure of both sides in possession, echoing Alonso's own words about staying calm. "Both teams were content to make sure they didn't let anyone too close to their goal," he said, "yet Bayer did deserve to win the game because they made more attempts to get through and do something with the ball."

And with Mukiele's first Leverkusen goal, the patience Alonso had demanded had its reward. "We weren't expecting to have 20 chances against Inter – to have a few ones, to have good ones," said Leverkusen's coach, and eventually they got one that they made count.