After the round of 16 Champions League is the end for three out of four German teams in the competition. With the exception of FC Bayern, no team was stormy enough.
The first knockout round of Champions League is over – and not only among those responsible in German football, but also among the supporters should describe the mood after the round of 16 games above all disillusionment.
After four teams, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, RB Leipzig and FC Bayern, had reached the qualifying games and the enthusiasm for this coup in (soccer) Germany was great, the Bundesliga is back on the ground of reality. Because with one exception, FC Bayern, the crash was almost unchecked.
A size too big
“I’m very proud of the team, we reached the knockout stage as newcomers in the Champions League. But here we met opponents who were a size too big for us”said Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner, who had to deal with a cumulative 0:5 from both games against SSC Napoli.
The second part of Glasner’s remarks also applied to RB Leipzig in its clear assessment that from Manchester City had been demonstrated in the second leg and a 1-1 in the first leg was followed by a 0-7 debacle in Manchester.
Borussia Dortmund, who had to accept a 0:2 away bankruptcy after a 1:0 draw, were much more unfortunate. But the fair loser and BVB coach Edin Terzic attested the “Blues” Afterwards considered a deserved win over both games.
Only the people of Munich presented themselves as a real European top team and made the star ensemble of Paris St. Germain almost in passing with 1:0 and 2:0.
Far too few attacks by the German teams
What did the eliminated German teams lack in comparison to the top international competition? In terms of inventiveness, speed, playfulness, creativity, individual technical skills, especially in the front opposing third.
Of the round of 16 teams (8 games) with the statistically most attacks so far Champions-Leagueseason only Bayern are in the top five with 410 attempts (leaders: Manchester City with a total of 529 attacks).
Even teams that were eliminated after the group stage and therefore only played six games (FC Barcelona: 398; Olympic Marseille: 336; Atletico Madrid: 309) are ahead of the other Bundesliga representatives in this ranking. BVB is tenth (302), Leipzig follows in eleventh place (293) and Frankfurt is only 24th (243).
Hardly any goals
The number of goals scored – with the exception of FCB, of course – is correspondingly sobering. With 21 goals (2.6 per game), Munich made fourth place in this category. SSC Napoli leads the table with 25 goals (3.13), followed by Benfica (23 goals; 2.88) and Manchester City (22 goals; 2.8).
Leipzig follows in eighth place with 14 goals (1.75). BVB in 13th place scored eleven times (1.38), Frankfurt in 22nd place only seven times (0.88).
Inadequate education
Teams that are primarily interested in pressing and winning the ball quickly at the highest European level and do not want to or are unable to determine the game, such as Frankfurt, Leipzig or BVB, are rarely able to present themselves in a dangerous manner in this competition.
Another problem: The collective, the tactical orientation, determines the majority of the game from Dortmund, Leipzig, Frankfurt. The individual qualities of the players have not been promoted in the Bundesliga for a long time, which is also due to the training in the youth academies of the Bundesliga clubs – and cannot be explained solely by the fact that the clubs have fewer financial resources than in Europe.
One-dimensional alignment
The match plans of most coaches also appear one-dimensional against this background, which has led to a significant loss of quality in an international comparison. From the knockout round, the German representatives – again with the exception of Bayern – have very little chance of keeping up at eye level.
The result: Since the 2012/13 season, only FC Bayern have reached the semi-finals of the German club Champions League. This negative development continued this season in the European premier class – even though four German teams have reached the knockout stages.