Bayern Munich won the Uefa Champions League 2013, in an all round high quality, high tempo game. However, what i want to focus on is Dortmund’s work off the ball, which was slightly uncharacteristic of how they usually press opposition, but nonetheless still very effective.

People often tend to forget how good the losers in a final played and won’t realize what their tactics have provided until a much later date, but this piece will look to remind readers of Dortmund’s greatest collective skill set; their pressing game or as called in Germany ‘counter pressing’.

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Diagrams

The diagrams below highlight how effective Dortmund’s pressing game was, particularly in the first half, restricting Bayern to many passes deep in their own half and winning possession of the ball high up the pitch 19 times.

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