FC Bayern Forum

There's no point in trying to beat Barcelona at their own possession game. Bayern simply have to make the most with what they have, because it'll be tough to retain possession against Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and co. Barca's defense is a shambles, so Robben and Ribery need to be at their best to provide to Gomez.

I can't disagree more. I think we should do exactly that - try to outpossess Barca. We all saw what happened with Löw against Spain and Italy. I don't like seeing a proactive sign turn reactive.

AssemFCB wrote:There's no point in trying to beat Barcelona at their own possession game. Bayern simply have to make the most with what they have, because it'll be tough to retain possession against Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and co. Barca's defense is a shambles, so Robben and Ribery need to be at their best to provide to Gomez.

If bayern players have that mentality, no way they can win. If you want to win, control the game, of course will be harder, but we also have players capable like Schweini, Robben, Muller, Ribery..

They did it against Madrid,so is no reason to see it imposible.

quaazi wrote:I can't disagree more. I think we should do exactly that - try to outpossess Barca. We all saw what happened with Löw against Spain and Italy. I don't like seeing a proactive sign turn reactive.

Ideally, this would be great, but this hasn't been done by any team in the world since Pep Guardiola took over.
Take Inter's 3-1 win over Barcelona in 2010. They managed 9 shots to Barcelona's 10 with only 29% possession, despite this, they scored thrice. They didn't try to seize possession, despite a midfield blessed with an in form Motta and Cambiasso and a Sneider during the form of his life, instead they counterattacked and grabbed goals. Many a time, Bayern have had up to 70% possession with no goals, which is similar to Barca during this game(and many others). In conclusion, dominating Barcelona in the game they've been doing seamlessly for the past half-decade isn't pragmatic in such an important game.

I truly believe Bayern would win over 2 legs against Barca (just as I believe Germany will beat Spain the next time they meet). Bayern has adopted the tiki-taka style of Barca's so well that it would benefit the Bayern defence (cuz the they see it in training most every day). Schweini will be the X-factor for the match ( with his through passes to either wings or Gomez, etc., setting up the attack). The confidence may be due to my hatred of Spanish teams but, I don't feel that Barca are as "invincible" as they were a year or two ago.

Either way I'd love to see it happen!

quaazi wrote:I can't disagree more. I think we should do exactly that - try to outpossess Barca. We all saw what happened with Löw against Spain and Italy. I don't like seeing a proactive sign turn reactive.

Couldn't agree more.

AssemFCB wrote:Ideally, this would be great, but this hasn't been done by any team in the world since Pep Guardiola took over.

Wait to see bayern.

Robb3449 wrote:I truly believe Bayern would win over 2 legs against Barca (just as I believe Germany will beat Spain the next time they meet). Bayern has adopted the tiki-taka style of Barca's so well that it would benefit the Bayern defence (cuz the they see it in training most every day). Schweini will be the X-factor for the match ( with his through passes to either wings or Gomez, etc., setting up the attack). The confidence may be due to my hatred of Spanish teams but, I don't feel that Barca are as "invincible" as they were a year or two ago.

Either way I'd love to see it happen!

Bayern don't have tiki-taka. Tiki-taka is more about passing, while Bayern just keep the ball to their feet. I think this is better than tiki-taka.
It is essential that we have Javi Martinez not injured for this match though, his long ball looks like it could slice the Barca defence in two.

FCBayernMunchen wrote:

quaazi wrote:I can't disagree more. I think we should do exactly that - try to outpossess Barca. We all saw what happened with Löw against Spain and Italy. I don't like seeing a proactive sign turn reactive.

Couldn't agree more.

We can't outpossess Barça and I believe no team in this world can. Just see how fast Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and co combine together. Of course this is not the mentality that a player should have but we fans will not be playing the game and I'm just trying to be realistic

I can't remember any team that have outpossessed Barça since Guardiola arrived in 2008. They have the best players to play that kind of game.

But that doesn't mean we can't defeat them of course and we have quality enough to do it. But then again, I think they would be still favourites

You're all forgetting one big factor that could most probably turn the match in our favour : VALDES

YlonenXabi wrote:

FCBayernMunchen wrote:

quaazi wrote:I can't disagree more. I think we should do exactly that - try to outpossess Barca. We all saw what happened with Löw against Spain and Italy. I don't like seeing a proactive sign turn reactive.

Couldn't agree more.

We can't outpossess Barça and I believe no team in this world can. Just see how fast Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and co combine together. Of course this is not the mentality that a player should have but we fans will not be playing the game and I'm just trying to be realistic

I can't remember any team that have outpossessed Barça since Guardiola arrived in 2008. They have the best players to play that kind of game.

But that doesn't mean we can't defeat them of course and we have quality enough to do it. But then again, I think they would be still favourites

Not only that but all players move into open space so that the player holding the ball has numerous options to pass to. The players are all close to each other. The only Bayern player who does this most frequently is Ribery and Bayern can't beat Barcelona to their game with only Ribery moving around.

The thing is we've spent 1,5 years instilling a possession based tactical system and 3,5 years on a whole philosophy. We're starting to get to the point Barca was at in 2008-9. There is no reason to turn back now. We can either try to reap the fruits of years of hard work or start dicking about with an entirely new system that has no guarantee of success either.

AdepT wrote:You're all forgetting one big factor that could most probably turn the match in our favour : VALDES

this

I don't think any of us are imagining that we will outpossess them, but we're certainly good enough to keep possession more or less even, and that would already make Barca much less dangerous.

Besides, we don't really have a choice. We are simply not effective enough to employ the same strategy as Inter and Chelsea did against them. Like quaazi said, perfecting that system would take a long time and attempting a sudden switch would be just like Germany vs Italy.

quaazi wrote:The thing is we've spent 1,5 years instilling a possession based tactical system and 3,5 years on a whole philosophy. We're starting to get to the point Barca was at in 2008-9. There is no reason to turn back now. We can either try to reap the fruits of years of hard work or start dicking about with an entirely new system that has no guarantee of success either.

Amen to that.

Our game is possession-based, and statistically we are there right after Barca in terms of ball possession and pass completion ratio. But one has to keep in mind the quality of the opposition faced. This "no one can dispossess Barca" talk can only be considered a fact after we play them and fail in doing so. Before this happens, I'll dare to say that we actually CAN dispossess them and get our game going. They have the tiki-taka possession, and we have the build-up possession. They play 4-3-3 and we play 4-2-3-1. I don't see them tiki-takaing our 4-2 defensive line. They'll have a crowded area of top-class quality to work through. Our system is perfectly shaped to dispossess their asses.