Napoli and Leipzig can light up Europa League
The Champions League isn’t the only tournament to return this week, and the Europa League includes on of the most intriguing matches in Europe.
With the return of the Champions League this week, most of the soccer world’s attention has been focused on Turin and Madrid, but the return of the Europa League on Thursday will bring with it one of the most fascinating matches of the week, as RB Leipzig travel to Italy to take on Napoli.
Both clubs are playing well this season — Napoli lead Serie A by a single point ahead of Juventus; Leipzig trail Bayern Munich by 18 points in the Bundesliga, but are leading a group of five teams fighting for second — but they’ve gotten where they are in very different ways.
Napoli are practically everyone’s second favorite club at the moment. Maurizio Sarri’s side are bidding to become the first team other than Juventus to win the Scudetto in six seasons, and are playing some of the most exciting soccer in Europe, averaging more than two goals a game.
The Partenopei play in a 4-3-3, which tends to settle into a 4-5-1 when they don’t have the ball. They press hard and play a very high line. When it works, Napoli shrink the field and play nearly the entire game in the opposition half.
Napoli are the most possession-dominant team in Serie A, averaging 59.6 percent per game with a pass accuracy of 88 percent. Juve, by contrast, average 56.4 percent of the ball with a passing accuracy of 86.7.
But while possession is an important aspect of their game, Sarri’s side don’t pass the ball for the sake of it. They play at a high tempo and look to move the ball forward quickly. If there’s nothing on, they recycle possession and start again.
Leipzig, on the other hand, have risen from the fifth division of German soccer to the top four of the Bundesliga in less than a decade after being purchased by Red Bull. That sort of rise is usually met with support, but the nature of their success has made them mostly enemies.
This is because the club’s success has largely depended on their exploitation of a loophole in Germany’s 50-plus-rule, instated in the early ’90s to ensure club members hold a majority of board votes, keeping fans, not corporations, central to every club.
Leipzig, however, have driven up the price of their annual memberships — from €10-€60 at most clubs to a €100 joining fee and a €800 annual fee — and have 17 members, most of which are Red Bull employees, compared to the thousands boasted by most other clubs.
While their off-field approach has made them villains, Ralph Hasenhutl’s side are a lot of fun to watch. Like Napoli, they favor a high-pressing style, but line up in 4-2-2-2 and look to create chances by playing the ball long and into areas their opponents struggle to pass out of.
The 4-2-2-2 shape features a hexagonal group in front of a back four. Two holding midfielders provide the base, two narrow wingers sit in front and link up with two forwards up ahead. This is the group that presses for Leipzig, moving around and hunting for the ball in packs.
Their shape gives the ball carrier (usually a center-back) some time on the ball while cutting off his options in central areas. As a result, the ball-carrier will often move the ball wide, which is where Leipzig press, using the touchline as an additional defender.
This system is successful because of the quality of Leipzig’s holding midfield pivot, particularly future Liverpool player Naby Keita. Keita is adept at winning the ball, and then pushing forward at pace to create the counter-attacking opportunities Leipzig are hungry for.
The Guinean international has been involved in six goals this season; he’s scored four of his own and added two assists. Leipzig as a team are fifth in the Bundesliga in goals scored with 35, and second in shots per game at 15.2.
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Leipzig have found this success by trusting youth. They have by far the youngest squad in the Bundesliga with an average age of 24.2. But while most other teams would be admired for this approach, Leipzig’s villain status stands in the way.
On Thursday, the villain will face off with the hero. The two sides’ contrasting styles will almost certainly lead to a high-octane match between clubs that could, and perhaps should, have been playing a day or two earlier than Thursday.