Analysis: Hoffenheim

Hoffenheim used a 3-4-3 shape in possession, with Justin Hoogma dropping in from his holding midfield position to form a back three with the two centre-backs Kevin Akpoguma and Stefan Posch. Joshua Brenet and Pavel Kaderabek could then push forward from their full-back positions to form a midfield four with Kerem Demirbay and Florian Grillitsch. The front three consisted of Joelinton, Adam Szalai (later Andrej Kramaric) and Ishak Belfodil.

The hosts’ idea in possession was to try to encourage the Manchester City players to form a compact shape in the central areas and open up the wings, creating a free pass to wing-backs Brenet and Kaderabek. To assist with this, the front three would often play inside their opponents’ back four to bring them closer together and, in midfield, the pressing of City’s three attackers helped to create an overload in their favour. With Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling joining Sergio Aguero in pressing their three centre-backs, only Fernandinho, David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan would remain to cover Hoffenheim’s four midfield players – this, at times, only helped with the home side’s desire to force space out wide.

Hoffenheim would look to play passes inside, inviting City to further close up – this meant that the next pass could be played outside before the ball was then delivered into the box. If the visitors didn’t allow this, they would try to play through the middle – as seen in their goal in the opening minute. Their other strategy was to hit City with fast counter-attacks in transition. They tried to be direct with these, keeping the ball moving forward, but they struggled to evade the counter-press of Pep Guardiola’s players.

They used a 4-3-3 mid-block out of possession, and transitioning from their attacking structure into their defensive structure was fairly straightforward; the wing-backs simply had to tuck in next to their two traditional centre-backs, while Hoogma would return to his central midfield position. Only when City had reached the halfway line would they engage with their opponents, unless a counter-press was possible. Even as City reached the Hoffenheim half, the press would be limited, geared more towards preventing the visitors from playing forward than regaining possession. The idea was to show City towards the touchline before trapping them with an aggressive press.

The distance between the full-backs and their nearest centre-backs in the out-of-possession structure was interesting; it was larger than would normally be the case, presumably to allow for immediate pressure to be put on Sane and Sterling, should they receive the ball. As a result, though, they were left vulnerable to passes in between the full-back and centre-back. These passes pose more of a threat than those played outside the full-back, as the full-back can be taken out of the game – this was evident in David Silva’s pass to Sane in the build-up to City’s equaliser.