Why Rangers' active defence was a Saxony success despite RB Leipzig defeat

And, while ideally, a trip to the Red Bull Arena would’ve ended in victory, Giovanni van Bronckhorst was quick to praise an “excellent” performance that so nearly returned an “excellent” result. Facing a side operating in a different financial stratosphere boasting world-class players in every department, returning to Ibrox with only a goal to overturn qualifies as a job well done.

Leipzig played 830 passes and recorded 69 percent possession, but until Christopher Nkunku missed an open goal after 70 minutes, their xG (expected goals) stood at just 0.36. They were frustrated, crowded out and forced to create space before chances against van Bronckhorst’s men. Who, if not for Angelino’s strike five minutes from time, would’ve recorded the perfect defensive performance.

This wasn’t a case of parking the bus and relying on goalkeeping individualism; rather, the visitors were active defensively, constantly closing gaps and angling their runs to manipulate passes. Under Domenico Tedesco, Leipzig have recovered their identity as a possession-dominant team and throughout, they always appeared a moment away from creating danger.

Rangers started the game in a 5-3-2, happy to hand over possession.

As made famous in these parts under Steven Gerrard, the team showed possession outside of the centre, moved with the pace of possession and condensed space around the ball. You can see in the below still that the entire team is facing the direction of travel.

And while no attacking inroads were made before the break, this shape left Allan McGregor relatively unoccupied.

Leipzig’s pass map from the game predominantly features lateral, angled balls played around the compact formation they faced.

This suited the visitors. As shown in their pressure map, they only moved to close down their opponents when the ball was played down either touchline, protecting profitable central areas at all costs. 

In the below frame, the ball is moved left, Ryan Jack leaves his spot in the middle to pressurise wing-back Angelino, Joe Aribo and Scott Wright block any passes into the centre, forcing possession backwards. 

The threat Leipzig posed was constant and the attention required to match their runs and combinations should not be understated. In the below example, Konrad Leimer’s run from midfield attempts to exploit any crack of space, but Rangers get their distances just right to recover. 

At half time, van Bronckhorst moved to address two tactical issues.

Firstly, for all of his side’s defensive success they’d failed to string together any attacking sequence. Instead resorting to long, unsuccessful balls into Ryan Kent and Wright.

With the same stroke of his brush, the Dutchman tweaked the defensive set-up due to the risk of fatigue. The constant shuttling from side to side was tiring and perhaps retaining the energy required for another 45 minutes was a step too far.

“In the second half we changed our set-up so we didn’t have to run a lot, especially our midfield players,” the manager said.

This tactical variation separates him from Gerrard on the continent. A healthy tactical reactivity to the opposition has repeatedly quelled momentum during this Europa League run.

You only need to go back to the start of the season, during a 2-0 defeat against Lyon, to find evidence of when the lack of a similar change proved costly. The French side’s manager Peter Bosz revealed post-match that his half-time team talk focused on switching play, in a bid to tire the hosts shuttling midfield. Rangers didn't adapt and Lyon's control only grew. 

By moving to a 5-4-1 on Thursday, the midfield was able to remain slightly more static, given their greater pitch coverage.

It led to the visitor's best spell of the game, in which they created a couple of half-chances while breaking up the relentless Leipzig possession.

A minute after the restart, the extra man in midfield makes an immediate impact. Kent, the fourth midfielder in this example, is occupying the zone that was free for Leipzig to play into during the first half.

Because Leipzig can’t simply re-angle their attack with Kent acting as the fourth man, they attempt a risky pass across the pitch which triggers the Rangers press.

Possession is forced backwards and although Aribo eventually loses a 50-50, this was the first time that the visitors had managed to force pressure high up the pitch.

Their subsequent best chance, admittedly of a very small bunch, also came about because of van Bronckhorst’s alteration. Facing a deep 5-4-1 block, Tedesco’s side attempt to play through the pitch, but quickly their attack is crowded out.

After Kamara rolls his man superbly, the ball is eventually worked into Aribo. He offers his side something they’ve lacked all game, a target to find in forward areas, and after bypassing his marker to find Kent, a shot flashes narrowly wide.

Nkunku’s blatant miss was proof that if Leipzig were afforded a yard, they’d take a mile. With Calvin Bassey slightly slow to close down Dani Olmo, Nkunku squeezes in between John Lundstram and Connor Goldson prior to missing an open goal.

Lundstram made 12 pressures, seven clearances, eight ball recoveries and four interceptions. Bassey made 17 pressures, three tackles, six ball recoveries and three interceptions. Goldson made 11 pressures, nine ball recoveries, two interceptions and two blocks. 

Any narrative that suggests Rangers’ showing in Saxony was negative is wide of the mark. Punching well above their weight, active defending with the help of some further formation shape shifting led them so very close to a clean sheet that would've been entirely deserved.