A No-nonsense Dissection on how Liverpool approaches the Final

Written by Dipanjan Chowdhury on May 26, 2018

Come 26^th May, 2018, NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev will host the Champions League final this year featuring two European heavyweights, who have won the trophy a combined 17 times. Real Madrid last lost in a European Cup final way back in 1981. And it was their opponent this weekend, Liverpool, who won 1-0 in Paris that night. Besides the 1981 final, the two teams have played each other four times in the Champions League era. Liverpool won both matches in the 2008–09 round of 16, while Real Madrid won both matches in the 2014–15 group stage. Before the ultimate showdown this Sunday, Dipanjan Chowdhury takes us through tactical nuances of Jürgen Klopp’s high-flying Liverpool.

Defending champions Real Madrid reached a record 16^th final beating Bayern Munich 4–3, knocking them out of the competition for the second consecutive season. Liverpool reached their eighth final, their first since 2007, after a 7–6 aggregate win against Italian side Roma.

Real Madrid are only the third team since the competition’s rebranding as the Champions League to reach three consecutive finals after Milan in 1995 and Juventus in 1998. Needless to say Liverpool are handed a humongous task to stop a rampant  Real Madrid side from lifting their third successive Champions League trophy and thus become the first team to do so in the Champions League era. For the records, only three teams have achieved this rare feat overall – the iconic Los Blancos of the 1950s (who won an astonishing five successive finals), and two immortal Ajax and Bayern Munich sides of the 1970s (in 1973 and 1976, respectively).

Let us dive deeper to see how Klopp sets up his side, where he likes to outsmart his opponents as well as the fragilities of his system.

1. Tactical set up and style of play:-

Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp play a 4-3-3 when they are in the attacking phase of the game and play a 4-5-1 when in the defensive phase of the game. Employment of a high intensity press to win the ball high up the pitch and counter-attacking at breakneck speed is their hallmark; as Klopp famously considers gegenpress to be the most important playmaker in his system. Now we would look at their system during the four important stages in a football match.

[a] During an offensive build up :

1. Liverpool like to build play from the back. Roberto Firmino drops into midfield while Mo Salah and Sadio Mane get narrow to facilitate build up.
2. When in the opposition half, their full backs push high up the pitch while their three front men play narrow with two of them occupying the left and right halves of space while one of them occupies the two central defenders. They create a 2-3-5 at times when in such a phase.
3. Liverpool like to attack through low cutbacks or by making decoy runs inside the box opening up space for another teammate to score.
4. One of their midfielders also join in attack by making runs to create an extra offensive option.
5. When in possession they generally do not push their defensive line too high.

[b] During offensive transition:

1. This is when they are the most dangerous when they counter attack teams. They usually have Mane or one of their three front men as the ball carrier using his pace and dribbling qualities.
2. Meanwhile, the other two make runs into pocket of space to receive the ball and continue the attack.
3. They generally counter attack through central channels after one of their ball carriers crosses into the offensive half of the pitch.
4. One of the midfielders also join in the attack by running the channels to create an extra offensive option.

[c] During defensive transition:

1. Liverpool resort to a high intensity counter press as soon as they lose the ball and aggressively press the ball carrier to create turnovers while also cutting off his passing lanes.
2. If their press is beaten, they back peddle and try to maintain the back four as flat as possible and provide defensive cover to their goalkeeper.

[d] During defensive phase:

1. When in the opposition half, they press aggressively to prevent the buildup of play by the opposing team, to prevent the midfield and the forward line of the opposition team from linking up vertically and if possible to win the ball back high up the pitch to counter attack at pace.
2. However, when in their half of the pitch they defend in a 4-5-1 shape with two of their forwards (wide) tucking into midfield to provide protection to the fullbacks along the flanks.
3. They defend very narrow with the fullbacks close to the center backs to prevent exploitation of the half spaces.
4. Their midfield and defensive lines remain very close to each other vertically to prevent anyone from the opposite team to play between the lines.

2. Strengths and weaknesses with loopholes in the tactical system:

[a] Liverpool’s strength lies in their high intensity pressing and winning the ball back in dangerous areas to counter attack with pace and direct incisiveness of their three forwards.

[b] One of their weaknesses lies in the fact that when Liverpool go to press the opposition in the opposition half, they press almost in 2-5-3 shape with all their midfielders along with fullbacks pressing high to form the “5” and their front three forming the “3”. In the process, they leave massive acres of uncovered space between their midfield line and the defensive line as the defenders do not push equally in the same wavelength as the other players resulting in potentially exploitable situations through long balls or press beating schemes for opposing teams.

[c] Their zonal marking system during set pieces has often been poor in recovering or winning the second and third balls resulting in having conceded quite a number of goals from set pieces.

[d] Liverpool look to win the match mostly in the first twenty minutes of the game and due to demands of their high press game often suffer from lapses in concentration and fitness level post the 70 minute mark when they often let in teams to comeback in the game.

[e] They do not play a true defensive minded midfielder and that often leads to situations where neither of the three midfielders realize the spatial awareness around them in certain defensive sequences for Liverpool and thus fail to cover or double up on the flanks leading to dangerous offensive situations for the opponent team.

[f] Liverpool’s right flank is often at times vulnerable to long balls as Dejan Lovren often follows the target man to win the ball, and at times when he loses the ball, their right back doesn’t always cover up the space vacated by Lovren due to being bent on marking the opposing right forward leading to dangerous situations.

 [g] When in attack, the Liverpool front three stay narrow and combine between themselves using the half spaces while their fullbacks push high up to provide the width. However when the back four of the opposing team are tasked with only marking the front three of Liverpool as they play narrow while the wide midfielders or wingers mark their fullbacks, their biggest threat which is their front three often gets neutralized, as the opposition creates a 4v3 or 6v5 overload as demonstrated in the Manchester United v Liverpool game which they lost 2-1.

 [h] When the supply lines for Liverpool’s front three are cut off through well-organized press, they drop deep to receive the ball thereby making it difficult for them to attack as there is already four people of the other team behind the forward line of Liverpool to defend the counter.

 [i] Liverpool are often vulnerable to a switch of play when other teams’ midfielders drift in centrally causing Liverpool midfielders or fullbacks to drift in with him to continue marking them leaving space on vacated flank. This creates a dangerous situation as the midfielders do not always quickly recognize and cover up those vacated spaces due to their poor defensive awareness.

 [j] Liverpool’s midfielders (wide) do not always follow the opposition midfielders. They mark when they drift towards the flank to maintain the horizontal spacing in their own midfield structure thereby creating potentially dangerous situations as then their fullbacks have a 2v1 to defend.

[k] During defensive transitions, Liverpool often defend in a distorted shape while back peddling where three of the back four shift to one side to press the ball carrier. The other defender is then left caught up in a situation where he either has to defend his flank or shift to other side to cover up the space in the middle. That is nothing but disaster waiting to strike.

That’s all as far as tactical set up is concerned. Like every footballing formation and tactics, this one also has its fare share of pros and cons. It’s up to Klopp and his men how they can maximize their cutting edge and hold guard against a ruthless Real Madrid side. Football matches are not won on paper, never had been, never will be. So. let’s wait for few more hours and indulge in an unforgettable experience.

About Dipanjan Chowdhury

Dipanjan is a freelance writer who ventures through my writing into the objective and elementary aspects of the game of football and also into various other unexplored and unknown realms of the beautiful game.

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