Ribery Is Bayern Munich's Savior in Guardiola and Schmidt's Chess Match

Bayern Munich restored their seven-point lead atop the Bundesliga table on Saturday, edging Leverkusen 1-0 at the Allianz Arena. The headline match of Round 14, many expected a showdown between tactical geniuses Pep Guardiola and Roger Schmidt. They were not disappointed by the action in store.

The first 45 minutes amounted to a gritty, fast-paced scrap that ended at 0-0 but with Leverkusen having had the better chances. Their opponents were left frustrated, unable to build up play.

The visitors pressed with a four-man front line, harrying a Bayern side that, with Xabi Alonso as the only true midfielder, lacked a discernible engine in the middle third. The Bavarians had numbers in defense (four) and attack (five), but the two were disconnected.

Sebastian Rode's introduction for Mario Goetze at half-time changed everything. Or Franck Ribery's winner did, one can't be sure. The Frenchman's goal came just over five minutes after the break and had nothing to do with tactics, it simply being a very well-taken volley after a corner-kick.

It nonetheless had a profound effect on the tactical game over the final 40 minutes: Playing at 0-0 is very different from 1-0.

Likely due to a combination of their tactical change and their going ahead, Bayern were quite comfortable throughout the second half, with Leverkusen not even taking a single attempt on Manuel Neuer's goal after the break.

Rode and Alonso worked well together and, with two ball-winners in their midfield, the league-leaders both broke up their opponents' counterattacks and simultaneously killed off the pace of their own attack. The slowing of the game was hugely important to Bayern eventually controlling the match: pace and lack of structure is exactly what had left them so frustrated at half-time.

Playing from ahead suits the league-leaders, who managed to kill off the pace of the game that had left them so frustrated in the first half. What previously was end-to-end, frenetic football was eventually replaced with Bayern's typical midfield tempo-control.

The coup de grace for Leverkusen was Schmidt replacing the impressive and energetic Lars Bender with the aging Simon Rolfes and sacrificing a bit of his midfield shape as he brought on Josip Drmic to play alongside striker Stefan Kiessling.

The tactical change to 4-4-2 was perhaps necessary, with Leverkusen needing a goal and having few options, but it was a roll of the dice that ultimately consolidated Bayern's control.

Overall, we didn't quite see the dominant Bayern that hammered Bremen (according to the official Bundesliga live ticker, they completed just 81.54 percent of their passes), but Guardiola's side managed to keep their shape enough to repel their visitors' advances and spring back on the counter.

The game could and perhaps should have ended with at least another goal to the winners, but Bayern got their three points all the same.

The exact cause for the turning point of Saturday's match will always be uncertain because of how little time passed between Rode's substitution and Ribery's goal. But, ultimately, it was the Frenchman's goal that gave Bayern the three points.

Leverkusen had numerous chances in the first half that could have put them on course for victory but failed to take them. Ribery had one quick look at goal and made the most of it. And cases like that are why Bayern are league-leaders.

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