What makes Hjulmand's Werkself so awkward for Bayern

Bayer 04 Leverkusen are currently teetering between brilliance in Europe and stuttering league form – and face none other than the leaders from Munich on Saturday afternoon (15:30 CET). We take a closer look at the Werkself, revealing how Kasper Hjulmand has readjusted his team with a change of system, why VfB Stuttgart could serve as a blueprint for FC Bayern, and which weapons Leverkusen possess with the ball and from set pieces.

Hjulmand’s system change

After starting the year with three defeats against Stuttgart (4-1), Hoffenheim (1-0) and Olympiacos (2-0), Hjulmand’s side stablisied and won six of their following eight encounters in all competitions. While Bayer 04 advanced to the round of 16 in the Champions League with a 2-0 aggregate win over Olympiacos in the play-offs, they’ve been below par in the Bundesliga most recently with just one win from their last four league matches. The timing of the meeting with Bayern is not ideal, coming in between the two legs of the Champions League last-16 tie against another of Europe’s top teams, Arsenal, although the Werkself did produce an impressive display in the 1-1 draw in the first leg at home on Wednesday.

Somewhat surprisingly, Hjulmand altered his team’s formation in the last two Bundesliga games. Instead of the tried-and-tested 3-2-4-1 system with a back three and out-and-out centre-forward, Leverkusen set up in a 4-2-2-2 with a four-man defence and a front two. What looked like a fundamental change of course on paper proved to be more of a slight adjustment in practice.

Grimaldo, Quansah & the asymmetric back four

Alejandro Grimaldo, the nominal left-back, has stamped his mark on the Werkself’s game in recent weeks and months. He occupies various roles on the left flank – sometimes a classic full-back, at other times a central midfielder or even number ten – and thus interprets his position in a fluid way. While the Spaniard joins in with build-up and provides creativity going forward, his counterpart on the right side, Jarell Quansah, concentrates more on defensive duties. The summer signing from Liverpool is most comfortable in the centre of defence, but has the physical attributes to play out wide with his speed and is more oriented towards the middle without the ball.

In front of the centre-back pairing of captain Robert Andrich and Edmond Tapsoba, Hjulmand employs a double pivot. Pass master Aleix Garcia is normally supported by a more combative player like Exequiel Palacios or Ezequiel Fernández. In the wide positions, which depending on the formation shift slightly into the centre, Ibrahim Maza (left) and Ernest Poku (right) have been the preferred choices lately. Eighteen-year-old midfield talent Montrell Culbreath has been handed an opportunity in the last two matches. Bayer 04 are flexibly equipped in the centre of attack, too: striking talent Christian Kofane (five league goals this season) has established himself as the focal point lately, with Martin Terrier, Jonas Hofmann and ex-Munich man Malik Tillman among the options behind him.

Leverkusen under pressure one-v-one

Stuttgart showed how Leverkusen can be overcome without the ball in their Bundesliga clash in January. The fact that the Swabians were so superior in the 4-1 victory was also due to how consistently they went into the duels one-v-one (53% of tackles won). “We defended really badly and simply have to do a lot, lot better,” admitted Hjulmand afterwards. “When the opponents defend one-v-one across the whole pitch, every single tackle is important. We lost too many of them and gave away the ball too many times.” Even though the Dane had actually prepared his side for this plan: “We weren’t surprised by VfB’s approach, it just wasn’t our day.”

It will be inriguing to see which team gain control of the ball at the BayArena, since it’s a meeting of the two Bundesliga clubs with the most dominant styles of play. Bayern have had the ball in their possession more than any other side this season (62%), with Leverkusen second (nearly 58%). The teams are also the top two when it comes to number of passes and pass completion, although B04 are just ahead of FCB in this statistic. It’s therefore a clash of teams who don’t just want to have the ball, but look to dictate the tempo of the game with it.

Few sprints, lots of tackles: Bayer’s defensive profile

When looking at the defence, the German record champions should prepare for some intensive physical battles: only RB Leipzig (2,681) have won more tackles than the Werkself (2,543). Interestingly, though, this is more down to smart positioning than hard running. With just 15,723 intensive runs, Bayer 04 are in second-from-bottom place in the Bundesliga, whereas Bayern – who combine their possession with greater risk in their positional play – are second with 17,921. In any case, Leverkusen have been highly successful with their approach: only two sides have conceded fewer goals than the Black and Reds (32). In the Champions League encounter with Arsenal on Wednesday, Andrich and Co again showed how disciplined they are out of possession as the Premier League leaders managed just six attempts on goal.

Hjulmand’s charges are also highly effective going forward. Only Bayern have created more big chances than Leverkusen (42) this season. They’re always looking to get shots off, registering the most attempts from outside the penalty area (138) in the league. Seven of those have ended up in the back of the net – only two teams have scored more goals from distance. The Munich defence will need to pay particular attention to Kofane: the 19-year-old Cameroonian has been involved in four goals in the last three Bundesliga games and epitomises the expansive nature of this team.

Danger lurks from set pieces, too. The hosts have scored five goals from free kicks in the current campaign – no side are currently deadlier from this particular dead-ball situation. However, Bayer 04 will be without one man who’s been key to that success on Saturday: Grimaldo, who’s already netted eight direct free kicks since his move to Leverkusen in summer 2023 (including one against Bayern in the 2-2 draw on Matchday 4 of the 2023/24 season), is suspended for this one due to yellow card accumulation.

So, Bayern face a team on Saturday who fluctuate between top level and shaky periods, but possess enough quality to cause any opponents problems. In the end, this contest will be less a question of which team has the better idea, but rather which can bring their strengths to bear more effectively on the pitch.

More facts on the clash with Leverkusen: