Bordeaux tactics
Willy Sagnol set his charges up to defend with two flat lines of four behind the strikers in a 4-4-2 defensive formation, before attacking in a 4-2-3-1 formation with the intention of penetrating mostly down the left wing.
When the French side had to defend, Enzo Crivelli and Wahbi Khazri led the defending by allowing Liverpool’s central defenders time on the ball before beginning serious pressing on the Reds’ central midfielders.
In midfield, Henri Saivet double-pivoted with Clement Chantome just in front of defenders, with Nicholas Maurice-Belay pressing from the left side of midfield. Uruguayan striker Diego Rolan worked from the right side of midfield to complete the flat midfield line of four that aligned just in front of the back-four.
When in possession, Bordeaux full-backs Maxime Poundje and Milan Gajic pushed into Liverpool’s half to provide crosses. At the base of midfield, Chantome and Saivet alternated, with one pushing on to back play through the middle while the other remained as the holding midfielder protecting the back-four.
Since Bordeaux mostly used the left flank to penetrate, Maurice-Belay kept the width as a natural left winger to create two-on-one overloads with left-back Poundje, before providing service into the box.
Right attacking midfielder Rolan made diagonal runs from the right to join centre forward Crivelli in affecting the Reds’ defensive line, while Khazri completed the offensive formation as the central attacking midfielder supporting the strikers.
Liverpool tactics
Brendan Rodgers reverted back to the 3-4-3 with wing-backs formation that served his charges well last season. The Reds had to defend in a 5-4-1 formation looking to contain Bordeaux’s direct attacks with an extra central defender, before working the ball patiently through midfield.
That meant that when Liverpool had the ball, they had to play out from the back with Joe Gomez and Mamadou Sakho flanking Kolo Toure and spreading the central defensive line across the width of the pitch to collect the ball and initiate attacks.
Those central defenders collected the ball from Simon Mignolet, then fed it short to the central midfielders. Jordan Rossiter and Emre Can started as the central midfielders building attacks through the middle.
Wing-backs Jordon Ibe and Alberto Moreno added width to Liverpool’s attack by charging down the flanks to provide crosses and stretch the opposition’s defensive unit.
Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana dropped deeper to help the central midfielders work the ball before pushing forward to affect the game as wide forwards, just behind Divock Origi, who completed the offensive formation as the centre forward making runs in behind as well as attacking crosses from the wing-backs.
When the Reds had to defend, Coutinho and Lallana pulled out wide to defend as wide midfielders. Rossiter and Can minded Bordeaux’s midfield runners in front of the defensive line, which allowed the wing-backs to drop back and complete a compact back-five with the central defenders.
Key tactical changes
Liverpool were slightly the better side and Rodgers’ men led 1-0 in the 75th minute, so Sagnol made a double-substitution and changed his team’s shape to a more offensive 4-4-2 formation, with Rolan and Maurice-Belay as high wingers.
The plan was to subject Liverpool’s defence to constant pressure with Brazilian striker Jussie coming on as a supporting striker to Crivelli. Andre Biyogo Poko came on to improve ball retention in midfield by replacing captain Saivet, who was anchoring Bordeaux’s midfield.
That change allowed Bordeaux to exert some control in the game and create pressure on Liverpool’s defence, with the hosts’ front-four all pushing into the Reds’ 18-yard box.
The French side were rewarded with an equaliser in that last quarter-of-an-hour and Rodgers seemed content with a draw, so the Reds simply lowered the tempo of the game by retaining the ball in the closing stages.
