In this example, Merino tended to step behind the block, dragging Tah with him to evacuate the left half space for Declan Rice to make use of.

The generated a passing lane between the latter and Zubimendi to progress the ball.

Not only did Merino’s dropping deeper contribute to vacating the space behind Bayern’s backline, but he also freed spaces inside, enabling Arsenal to work the ball out through.

As a result, Arsenal have a free player to rely on. In this example, Kimmich left Merino free and opted for covering Tah’s space. In the meantime, Saka and Timber pushed Laimer and Gnabry forward, leaving room for Merino to receive unpressurized.

With Jonathan Tah and Upamecano leaving their spots and advancing following their markers forward, Bayern Munich remained exposed to Arsenal's long clips for a runner in behind.

As a reaction, one of the Bavarian players who was close to the center-backs’ spots tended to plug the gap.

With Bayern Munich’s man-marking approach, David Raya was the free man for Arsenal. Merino and Eze’s deeper movements allowed Timber, Saka, and Trossard to drive inside and exploit the space behind.

In this instance, Timber towered over Laimer to head the ball behind for Saka.

In this instance, Lewis Skelly and Rice swapped positions. MLS, Zubimendi, and Eze pulled their markers forward, enabling space for Madueke to operate against Stanisic.

The latter, with a good hold-up play, exerted full control over Mosquera's chip and released Rice in space behind.

The latter dragged Tah forward, with the former operating as a target for Raya’s long passes. In the meantime, Timber took advantage of Gnabry's moving toward the duel zone to attack freely the space behind, as Merino would win the aerial battle and head the ball forward.

That gave Saka and Trossard the license to narrow inside and act as targets for Raya’s long passes.

Arsenal relied heavily on positional rotations to manipulate Bayern Munich’s players and generate optimal situations to attack the space behind.

Here, Merino and Saka exchanged positions and roles.

As aforementioned, in possession, Arsenal CBs split wide alongside David Raya, with the FBs pushing on near the touchlines.

To exploit the space behind Bayern Munich’s backline, Merino and Eze tended to move deeper to draw Tah and Upamecano’s attentions.

Merino dropped in BTLs, leaving Laimer guessing whether to follow him to stand still. Timber intentionally moved a bit toward the right to keep Gnabry tied and further him from Merino for the latter to punish the space behind Bayern’s backline.

Here, Zubimendi retreated to cover Karl, with Rice dripping to sweep behind Mosquera. As Arsenal recovered the ball, they had the numerical advantage in the backline. So, it required Pavlovic to cover all the distance to jump on Zubimendi and leave Saka for Kimmich.

OOP, Zubimendi & Rice acted sometimes as situational CBs to cover the central space and deny runners when Mosquera & Saliba were wide, keeping tabs on their markers.

That served Arsenal well when they regained possession & recycled, as they have a situational free man behind Bayern Munich’s block.

The goal was to rely on the FB to bypass his marker, slide an out-in pass for the winger to switch the ball to the other side, or release runners behind Bayern Munich's defense.

Arsenal FBs hugged the touchlines, with the wingers Saka and Trossard drifting infield to allow Timber and Lewis Skelly space to push on or generate the diagonal passing lanes between wingers-FBs.

Usually, Arsenal CBs split wide to expand the distance between their markers and be able to initiate the attacking sequence. Playing against a man-marking high press requires creating separation and winning your 1v1 matchups.

Upa focuses more on cutting the passing angle between Eze & Merino, spreading his legs too wide without thinking of the distance between his feet. That's part of the problem but the other is the timing of the step-out that allowed Eze time on the ball & impacted the distance between him & Upamecano.

Here, Upamecano jumped onto Eze when the latter fully controlled the ball, and his body shape revealed all his intentions and subsequent actions. So, he left himself and the space behind exposed.

...-> Space for Haaland and Cherki;
—Nico Gonzalez was hard to press, negating any attempt to counterpress and initiating City's counters, and was able to cut Bournemouth open with his line-breaking passes.

What was apparent is as follows:

—Set up the optimal situation to find Camavinga on the right;
—Bring Barcelona to the ball side (Pedr/De Jong shifting across, whereas Lamine Yamal & Rashford staying high);
—Switch to the left side, where Real Madrid generates numerical superiority;