Recreate Bayern Munich's 2012/13 treble-winning tactics in FM24! A tactical breakdown of Heynckes' system with a downloadable tactic.
Recreate Jupp Heynckes' legendary Bayern Munich treble-winning tactics in
Football Manager 2024 with this in-depth analysis and downloadable
tactic.
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The 2012/13 season was a legendary season for FC Bayern Munich as they became the first German team to win a treble, as they won the Bundesliga at a canter, followed by tight victories against VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal and UEFA Champions League Finals respectively. It was a stunning campaign that saw the Bavarians shatter records such as:
- Most Bundesliga Points During a Season – 91
- Biggest Lead Over Second Place Team – 25 points
- Most Wins in a Bundesliga Season – 29
- Fastest Time to Clinch Bundesliga Title – 28 Matchdays
In this article, I’ll be providing my brief analysis on the tactics that achieved his historic feat, before showcasing my recreation of said tactics on Football Manager 2024 and demonstrating the exceptional results the tactic achieved in testing with Bayern Munich. Let’s begin by looking at the core principles of this tactic.
Playmaking Full-Backs
In 2012/13, Bayern Munich had two of the most technically gifted full-backs in recent history in David Alaba and Philip Lahm, and the pair were crucial to Bayern’s build-up under Heynckes in this season. Bayern would primarily look to build-up play from the back, before placing extra emphasis on central progression. However, if Bayern were unable to progress play centrally, Alaba and Lahm would take it in turns to drop from a slightly higher position to receive the ball in a wider position. From this wider position, both players could use their impressive vision and exemplary passing ability to pick out the wingers ahead of them or break the lines with a pass into one of Kroos or Schweinsteiger in an advanced position in central midfield. This quality out wide added another layer to Bayern’s threat, and this, alongside the ball-playing qualities of the centre-back partnership and goalkeeper, meant that most teams would sit off Bayern Munich and allow Bayern Munich to progress from deep with ease.
Very Wide Wingers
Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery were exceptional in 2012/13, with the former scoring the decisive, winning goal for the Bavarians in the UEFA Champions League Final, as they conjured up 60 combined goal contributions! The key to their success in this season was arguably positions given to them by Heynckes. When Bayern had sustained possession, both wingers would hold high and wide positions on their respective flanks and would often be fed the ball by switches of play from midfield. This positioning on the flanks would regularly leave the pair isolated in 1v1 situations against inferior full-backs – a qualitative superiority that would almost always end in a shot on goal for Bayern Munich, as the pair didn’t hesitate to take on their opposing full-backs with pace, trickery and directness.
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Bayern Munich would almost always look to take control of the match, and this would see them dominate possession in most matches as they averaged 60+% possession in the Bundesliga in 12/13. This control of possession would begin from the back, where the defence would look to use their ball-playing abilities to progress play from deep. Within this possession, Bayern Munich would use short, but quick passing to keep the ball moving, whilst retaining control. Bayern Munich, as aforementioned, prioritized central progression in their possession ventures. When Bayern Munich reached the final third, they would remain patient and look to work the ball into the box. Lastly, Bayern’s players, especially their front three, all had the freedom to swap positions and roam freely.
When Bayern lost the ball, they would immediately initiate a counter-press to try and regain possession. If successful, Bayern would launch explosive counter-attacks in an attempt to ruthlessly punish the opposition; This was also the case if they won back possession from a deeper position. From goal-kicks, Neuer would primarily distribute short to the centre-backs.
When Bayern didn’t have possession for prolonged periods, they would look to press the opposition whilst using their cover shadows to laterally close off passing options for the opposition – this meant their midfield and attack wouldn’t necessarily mark the opposition. Their defence, however, would tightly mark the opposition strikers – this would see Bayern Munich hold a very high defensive line. Finally, Bayern would look to force the opposition into wide areas where they could use the touchline as an extra defender to contain the opposition.
Let’s Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
Bayern Munich would almost always look to take control of the match, and this would see them dominate possession in most matches as they averaged 60+% possession in the Bundesliga in 12/13. This control of possession would begin from the back, where the defence would look to use their ball-playing abilities to progress play from deep. Within this possession, Bayern Munich would use short, but quick passing to keep the ball moving, whilst retaining control. Bayern Munich, as aforementioned, prioritized central progression in their possession ventures. When Bayern Munich reached the final third, they would remain patient and look to work the ball into the box. Lastly, Bayern’s players, especially their front three, all had the freedom to swap positions and roam freely.
In Transition
When Bayern lost the ball, they would immediately initiate a counter-press to try and regain possession. If successful, Bayern would launch explosive counter-attacks in an attempt to ruthlessly punish the opposition; This was also the case if they won back possession from a deeper position. From goal-kicks, Neuer would primarily distribute short to the centre-backs.
Out of Possession
When Bayern didn’t have possession for prolonged periods, they would look to press the opposition whilst using their cover shadows to laterally close off passing options for the opposition – this meant their midfield and attack wouldn’t necessarily mark the opposition. Their defence, however, would tightly mark the opposition strikers – this would see Bayern Munich hold a very high defensive line. Finally, Bayern would look to force the opposition into wide areas where they could use the touchline as an extra defender to contain the opposition.
Player Roles
Sweeper Keeper – Attack
Manuel Neuer will probably always be remembered as the first high-profile ‘keeper to promote the ways of the ‘Sweeper Keeper’ as his wacky, intriguing exploits for Schalke, Germany and Bayern Munich paved the way for the modern ‘keeper. This was particularly seen for Bayern Munich under Heynckes, as Bayern’s high-line meant Neuer had increased responsibility to leave his goal-line and sweep dangerous balls in-behind. Therefore, I felt this role is the most quintessential fit for Manuel Neuer and his role. No additional instructions.
Full-Back – Attack
As previously mentioned, both full-backs in this system had to have the flexibility in their positioning and movement to move higher or drop deep to receive based on the situation. When both full-backs received the ball, they’d use their incredible vision and passing ability to progress the play themselves. The right-back, however, was the more attacking of the two and would regularly look to overlap Robben, allowing the Dutchman to cut inside onto his wand of a left foot. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Central Defender – Defend
Both centre-backs in this system, Dante and Boateng, were immense in duels and 1v1 situations, whilst having the pace to catch up to most attackers running in-behind. This strength and mobility meant the pair would aggressively mark the opposition striker/s. When Bayern had possession, both centre-backs were technically astute and could use their ball-playing abilities to progress the play from deep. Dante, however, would sometimes go long towards the Target Man Mandzukic and on a more regular basis than Boateng – this explains the differentiation in roles. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Ball-Playing Defender – Defend
As aforementioned, both centre-backs would aggressively mark and hassle the opposition striker/s and this rung true with Boateng too. The only slight difference between the pair, as mentioned above, was that Dante would look to go long on a more regular basis. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Full-Back – Support
As with the right-back, the left-back was sometimes crucial to Bayern’s build-up as he had to have the flexibility and awareness of knowing when to hold a higher position or to drop deep. When he received the ball, the left-back would also look to use his passing ability to progress play. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Defensive Midfielder – Defend
In this position, Javi Martinez had the responsibility of shielding the back-four and offering himself as a passing option. If Bayern came up against a team with a front-two, Martinez would drop between the centre-backs to form a back-three.* Therefore, I felt this role was ideal. No additional instructions.
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- ⚠️ NOTE
- There is another version of this tactic with the Half-Back role to download that you can load into your save when you play against a team playing a front-two.
Roaming Playmaker – Support
In this position, Schweinsteiger had the freedom to roam from his position and offer himself as a passing option. Additionally, Schweinsteiger would regularly make box-crashing runs and picked up 9 goals from this position in the 12/13 season. When he would receive the ball in the opposition’s half, Schweinsteiger would regularly switch the point of attack to find a winger holding the width. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instruction:
Attacking Midfielder – Support
From this position, Kroos would frequently drift from his position into deeper positions to swap and rotate positions with Schweinsteiger. When he would receive the ball, Kroos wasn’t against the odd speculative effort from range, and would often have a pop from distance. He would also, like Schweinsteiger, typically switch the point of attack, aiming for a winger in a potential 1v1 situation. Therefore, I felt this role was suitable, with the added instructions:
Inside Forward – Support
Through his career, Arjen Robben had a rather beneficial love affair with the art of cutting inside and shooting on his stronger left foot, and his initial wide positioning in this system created an ideal environment for him to showcase his wonderful left footed skill. As with Ribery on the other side, Arjen Robben would hold a very high and wide position in Bayern’s attacks. When he would receive the ball, he would customarily weigh up his opponent, before cutting inside and launching a beautifully destructive curling cannon at goal. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Inverted Winger – Attack
Frank Ribery was the more direct of the two in his attacking ventures, as he’d rapidly race into a dribbling frenzy when given the ball. He was also the more creative of the two and would often look to hit the byline to cross the ball in or use an imaginative pass to slice through the opposition. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Target Forward – Attack
Mario Mandzukić was a particular beneficiary of this system, as it gave him the ideal environment for his aerial ability and movement to come to the fore. From this position, the Croatian would also drift from his position and move into the channels, particularly the left channel. Despite this deviation of movement, Mandzukić was almost always on the end to finishing attacking moves, as he scored 22 goals in 12/13. Finally, when Bayern didn’t have the ball, Mandzukić would unrelentingly press the opposition into submission. Therefore, I felt this role was ideal, with the added instructions:
Results
Bundesliga
In the Bundesliga, we won the league at a canter with 95 points out of a possible 102 points! Of the 34 league games, we won 31 games, drawing 2 games and losing just the 1 game. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to replicate the points difference record Bayern achieved in 12/13, which just goes to show the difference in quality between this fantastic Bayern team and the rest in the Bundesliga from that season. In the 34 league games, we scored a whopping 105 goals, averaging just over 3 goals scored per game, whilst conceding just 17 goals all season (0.5 goals conceded per game on average).
DFB-Pokal
We ended up winning our second trophy of the season as we picked up the DFB-Pokal following a 2-1 win against VfB Stuttgart in the final – coincidently, Bayern Munich also beat VfB Stuttgart by just one goal in the DFB-Pokal Final in their treble-winning season… Did lightning strike twice?
UEFA Champions League
Indeed, it did, as we completed the treble by winning the UEFA Champions League after beating Real Madrid 2-1 in the final! On our way to the final, history would repeat itself again as we beat Barcelona 4-0 in a leg of a two-legged tie where Bayern would score 7 on aggregate against the Catalonian giants again – 1-7 on aggregate, this time!
Conclusion
The 12/13 Bayern Munich side will go down in history as one of the greatest German teams ever, whilst becoming just the 7th European team to ever win a treble! A team that was imaginative beyond the tactical landscapes of which the time resided, no wonder they were almost unstoppable. In this article, I have shown you my tactical recreation of this Bayern side and demonstrated the exceptional results the tactic achieved in testing. If you want a taste of this thrilling tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and follow FM Blog and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves! Thanks for reading!
