After the dreadful 3-0 defeat to the top Bundesliga title contenders Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend, Bayern Munich must now turn their attention to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. There they face Lazio in the first leg of the round of 16 in Rome. Last Word on Football brings you our Bayern Munich predicted lineup for this match.
Bayern Munich Predicted Lineup vs Lazio
2️⃣4️⃣ hours to go ✨⏳#MiaSanMia #LAZFCB #UCL pic.twitter.com/18QIM6isiM
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) February 13, 2024
How Bayern Munich Have Lined Up Recently
Coach Thomas Tuchel made a grave tactical miscalculation in the previous match, which likely was the biggest reason for the loss on Saturday. He switched formations and decided to have the team start in a 3-4-3 formation. It was a shape that the team had never played in. On top of that, they were asked to play with personnel that had never played together before.
The starting lineup was as follows: Manuel Neuer in goal, Dayot Upamecano, Eric Dier, as well as Kim Min-jae were the centre back trio. Meanwhile, Sacha Boey and Noussair Mazraoui were the wingbacks, as Leon Goretzka and Aleksandar Pavlovic played in the heart of the midfield. Finally, Leroy Sané, Jamal Musiala, and Harry Kane made up the ineffectual front three.
Before that, the team usually played a 4-2-3-1 formation, but on this occasion, Tuchel simply overthought things by trying to surprise Xabi Alonso. Instead, his own team fell into the tactical trap.
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Bayern Munich Recent Form and Tactics
Anytime that Bayern lose a game, particularly one of this magnitude, all talk of previous form goes out the window. For a club that has such a winning mentality, Saturday’s loss was a truly devastating blow. The question is how do they respond. It can go one of two ways, either they redeem themselves, or they fail and set off a full-blown crisis at the club.
In terms of tactics, there has never been a stronger case to return to the 4-2-3-1, after Saturday’s failed experiment.
Bayern Munich Injuries to Consider
Kingsley Coman, Bouna Sarr, Konrad Laimer, Serge Gnabry, Daniel Peretz, and Alphonso Davies all remain out injured. There is also a question mark around Neuer’s health, as the keeper missed training earlier this week. Meanwhile, new signing Bryan Zaragoza has recovered from illness and should be available.
Bayern Munich Predicted Lineup vs Lazio
Neuer, Mazraoui, Upamecano, de Ligt, Guerreiro, Kimmich, Goretzka, Sané, Müller, Musiala, Kane.
