Defense Can Win Games, but Not by Itself
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In the first half, Bayer Leverkusen came out with one of the most defensive formations you will ever see in football.
Their formation, a 4-3-2-1, isn't a very defensive one by nature, but it was the players picked by Robin Dutt that made it rather ridiculously defensive.
In midfield, Robin Dutt selected Simon Rolfes, Lars Bender and Stefan Reinartz to play in front of his defense—all of whom are defensive/holding midfielders who don't offer too much going forward.
Reinartz, in fact, has played as a center back for Leverkusen until recently.
Further upfront, Dutt interestingly selected Gonzalo Castro to play behind Andre Schurrle. Castro's usual position is that of a right wingback, so while he can score and contribute on offense, he's a defender by nature.
Finally, the selection of Schurrle as the lone striker was intriguing in and of itself, since Schurrle is a relatively small player who normally plays as a winger or a forward with another forward alongside him.
In the second half, Dutt instructed his players to play more offensively, and when Stefan Kiessling was finally brought on by Dutt in the last 15 minutes, Leverkusen looked very dangerous.
But by then it was too little too late, and Lionel Messi put the nail in the coffin in the 88th minute.
Dutt had a good idea: His goal was to limit Barcelona's scoring as much as possible, earn a decent result (0-0 or 1-1 draw) and try to score a lucky goal at the Camp Nou to take his team through to next round of the Champions League.
But unfortunately, his team's lack of offense allowed Barcelona to control the tempo and possession in the game. From there it was only a matter of time before Barcelona made their domination show on the scoreline.