Since AC Milan reached this season's Champions League final, Pan Yi has often taken time to study the opponent in the final - Bayern Munich.

More precisely, to study the current coach of Bayern Munich, Joseph Heynckes.

In fact, as early as 1987 and 1991, Heynckes coached Bayern Munich and led the team to two Bundesliga titles, but due to a loss of control over the players, he was sacked midway through the 1990-91 season.

And his fate with Bayern did not end there.

In the second half of the 2008-09 season, Heynckes, who was idle at home, was appointed to replace Jurgen Klinsmann as Bayern's interim head coach.

He helped the team finish runners-up in the league but left at the end of the season.

And then it's the third time now.

Dutch coach Louis van Gaal was sacked, and Heynckes once again went out to "put out the fire", leading the team to win the German Cup and the Bundesliga "double Asian king", and is now ready to attack the Champions League title.

In fact, after he officially announced his retirement in 2013, in 2017 Heynckes made another comeback and was once again a firefighting coach for Bayern until the end of the season.

It can be said that Heynckes is definitely true love for Bayern.

Of course, Pan Yi studied more of the tactics used by Heynckes during his time at Bayern.

As the season progressed, Pan Yi participated in more and more high-level competitions, and he was able to touch and learn more and more content in the system.

Therefore, the tactical play of this Bayern meritorious coach was also presented in front of Pan Yi one by one.

In this season, as well as in the peak of the 2012-2013 five-crown season, he used the 4231 formation, which he is best at.

Although there have been changes in personnel in the two seasons, the framework of the main squad is similar.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, left-back Alaba, centre-backs Bad Stuber (Dante) and Boateng Jr., right-back Lahm, defenders Tony Kroos (Xavi Martinez) and Schweinsteiger, attacking midfielders Ribery, Muller, Robben, and center forward Mario Gomez (Mandzukic).

In terms of specific tactics, Pan Yi found that Heynckes's style of play is actually very close to the most advanced pressing tactics in 2022, and even has similarities with the style of play that Pan Yi is now implementing in Milan.

This may be the reason why they were able to beat the unbeatable opponents in Europe in the 2012-2013 season.

Even in the 2011-2012 season in Pan Yi's previous life, Bayern completely suppressed Chelsea in the Champions League final, only because of bad luck and Robben's missed penalty kick, and finally lost the final in the penalty shootout.

It must have been difficult for opponents at the time to understand Heynckes' unusual spatial and mobile defense.

In Cruyff's words, Heynckes' tactical thinking is: "When your team has the ball, the farther away the other players are from the ball, the better, and when the ball is not at your feet, the closer your players are to the ball." ”

With this in mind, Heynckes' wingers played an incomparably powerful role – they maximised the length of the pitch when attacking, and when it was time to defend, the wingers were able to get involved in the midfield and flex like an accordion.

Heynckes proposed this defensive system as a link to play, emphasizing the defense of each player, using every inch of space on the court to make it difficult for the ball to flow, and blocking the opponent's attack with collective blocking.

As a result, very few teams can break through the Heynckes team's defence, and even if they do, they will find that Neuer is still behind the defence - the use of this scavenger goalkeeper is also a major tactical innovation for Bayern.

In every position of the team, they are the same as Milan, and the defense starts from the forward line.

When they lose possession of the ball up front, and are not subject to a quick counter-attack, Bayern's usual option is for the nearest attacking player to apply pressure, forcing the ball carrier to not take the ball in stride, resulting in mistakes.

At this point, the rest of the attacking players – mostly three – will each mark and press the ball carrier for protection.

For example, if the opposing goalkeeper holds the ball and the center striker Gomez grabs up, then the three attacking midfielders will mark the back line separately.

However, with only one man up front who cannot mark the double centre-back, the opposition goalkeeper may pass the ball to a centre-back, such as a left centre-back.

At this point, Arjen Robben, who is closest to him, will scramble up and block the pass to the left-back, then Muller, Franck Ribery and a forward midfielder will mark the opponent's right centre-back, right-back and a midfielder respectively to intercept the pass, while Gomez will start to retreat back to his position.

Moreover, no matter which midfielder of Hama or Piggy presses forward, there must be another midfielder who is dragging back, sitting between the midfield and the defensive line.

While the offensive players are coming up, except for the three necessary protectors and interceptors, the rest of the players, especially the defenders, must quickly return to their positions.

To sum up, that is, 1 person presses, 3 people protect, and the remaining 6 players are all defending back.

In this way, even if the opponent is ready to play a quick counterattack, then the side has enough manpower to carry out a quick return defense.

So you can hardly see Bayern forced to play more with less when they are quickly counter-attacked, and that's because:

First, there is always a dragging centre-back who is handling the ball behind him (usually Boateng Jr.);

Second, Bayern's full-backs are in the same year, and their running speed will not be too far behind;

Thirdly, Neuer will attack according to the situation when forming a single knife, and the lagging central defender will quickly make up for the goal, reducing the adverse impact of the goalkeeper's disposition.

Therefore, when the opponent counterattacks, he will always face such a scenario: the defender holds the ball, the opponent's center grabs, the ball holder wants to play the ball, but the short pass targets are all marked, either after a certain run without the ball or wait for a teammate to run to receive the ball, or open a big foot without precision.

When his team-mate receives the ball, he will face a new difficulty - his short pass target is being marked again, and in this way, by the time the football advances to the opposition half, they are already facing a well-organized defence......

After gradually digesting Heynckes's tactical system, Pan Yi's mind gradually became clear.

If AC Milan's tactics in the previous duel with other opponents were a bit of a "dimensionality reduction strike", then the match between Milan and Bayern was closer to the same dimension.

Both sides have great similarities in terms of the requirements for pressing up front, the use of wingers, and the protection of midfielders.

Therefore, in order to achieve such a victory in the battle of the peak, the layout, restraint, and on-the-spot command and dispatch of specific positions must be more meticulous.

In addition, the unity, order and tactical discipline of the team will be the key to winning or losing!