Pep Guardiola Gets His Tactics Wrong Again as Atletico Madrid Down Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich slumped to a 1-0 defeat on Wednesday in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final with Atletico Madrid.

The result still leaves the German giants with a decent chance of progressing to the final. However, the defeat was a familiar one, and in light of recent history, it may be unnerving for Bayern.

In 2014, towards the end of Pep Guardiola's first season as Bayern head coach, they lost the first leg of the semi-final 1-0 to Real Madrid. The next year, they also lost the first leg away from home, 3-0 to Barcelona. And on Wednesday, they again lost the first leg to a Spanish side, once more failing to score an away goal.

For Guardiola, it was a fourth consecutive first-leg away defeat at the semi-final stage without having scored an away goal: In his last season at Barcelona, his side lost 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. In none of the previous three ties has the Spaniard led his team to the final.

However ominous the result may seem, it wasn't all doom and gloom for Bayern. 

Wednesday's tie was a game of two halves. Atleti were far and away the better side before the interval. They never allowed Bayern to settle early, and although it came from a bit of individual brilliance, they deserved their opener from Saul Niguez on 11 minutes.

Until the break, they had Bayern well under control despite not having much of the ball.

Guardiola decided to use different tactics from his usual, including taking an option that Jupp Heynckes and Joachim Low previously regretted—benching Thomas Muller.

Without Muller, Robert Lewandowski was hopelessly isolated in the center of attack, and the decision to use classic (rather than inverted) wingers greatly lessened Bayern's firepower: It meant fewer goals from wide players but more crosses, and Muller's absence left only one target to aim at.

Thiago Alcantara and Xabi Alonso were anonymous in midfield, so the apparent plan of having "control" in the center of the park didn't seem to work.

David Alaba in central defense also was a questionable decision, with Medhi Benatia fit. The Austrian stood off Saul ahead of the opener, and he was beaten by Fernando Torres before the veteran fired off the post in the second half.

After half-time, though, the Bavarians were much better. Alaba's 35-meter blast off the underside of the crossbar was no great tactical feat, but it did start to tilt the momentum in Bayern's favor.

They put pressure on the hosts, much as they did against Juventus in the round of 16. In that instance, it took them until the last moments of the second leg, but they eventually got the goals they needed and trudged on to the quarter-finals.

On Wednesday, Bayern didn't have a comeback in them. Javi Martinez had the best chance, a free header, but Jan Oblak made a rather comfortable save.

If Bayern can perform in the return leg as they did in the second half in Madrid, they should favor their odds of progressing. It's hard to imagine even Atleti holding out under continued, sustained pressure. Not at the Allianz Arena, not for 90 minutes.

At the same time, it's far from a given that Bayern will pick up where they left off in Madrid. They were in a similar position in 2014, but Guardiola set up the tactics wrongly at home, and Bayern were put to the sword with a 4-0 defeat in front of their dumbfounded fans. The trainer later admitted his mistakes in Marti Perarnau's book, Pep Confidential (h/t Daily Mail).

If he's learned his lesson, Guardiola will set up his side better in the second leg of the Atleti tie than he did in the first game and against Real two years ago.

There is a fine line between going for the required goal and setting up too desperately. The best coach in the world should know where that line is, though. Next week, we'll see if Guardiola is still worthy of the superlative.

@Mr_Bundesliga