Bayer Leverkusen hosted Arsenal in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 at BayArena, in an important game that ended in a 1-1 draw.
It was predicted that the game would be easier for Mikel Artetas side, who entered the game in good form, leading the Premier League with a six-point difference above Man City.
On the other hand, Kasper Hjulmands side isnt in a good position in the Bundesliga table, where they sit in sixth position with 45 points, with a 22-point difference between them and the first, Bayern Munich.
It was also a surprise for some fans that Bayer Leverkusen scored a goal from a set-piece, a corner kick, while Arsenal couldnt do so.
On the other hand, Arsenal were threatening from set-pieces, as usual, but Bayer Leverkusen had a good defensive plan that reduced their threat.
In this set-piece analysis, we will explain both teams attacking tactics at corners and how the other reacted in the first leg, and then try to see how both may react in the second leg, based on their previous reactions in similar situations.
Bayer Leverkusen Attacking Corners Vs Arsenal
Starting with the side that scored from a set-piece, Bayer Leverkusen had two corners; they scored from one of them and showed a good idea on the other, indicating a good performance in this important aspect of the game.
Figure 1 below shows how Arsenal defended corner kicks against Bayer Leverkusen, with the corner that led to the hosts goal.
They defended with a hybrid defending system, having five zonal defenders (yellow), four man markers (blue), and a player (green) to defend the rebound, ready to defend short corners.
arsenal-vs-bayer-leverkusen-ucl-2025-26-set-piece-analysis-tactics
Figure 1
Figure 2 below shows that the German side targeted the far post with the player in white, who had many options in this area: the goalkeeper, the last zonal defender, and the man marker who marks the targeted player.
Bayer Leverkusen dealt with these obstacles carefully, so they asked the yellow-arrowed player to start near the goalkeeper and go on a decoy run to drag David Raya a little bit forward, making it hard for him to step back and claim the ball before reaching the far post.
The green-arrowed player had an
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