In the 2016/17 season formations with 3 centre backs were very used and popularised again, it was playing in a 3-4-3/5-4-1 formation that Conte recovered Chelsea in the Premier League and led the blues for title, inspiring some other teams like Arsenal and Germany, besides that, Hoffenheim had an amazing season playing in a 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation and now they will play the Champions League for the first time.

These forma...tions allow the wing backs to play wider, being an option to receive a pass almost all the time and appearing as surprise element after crossed balls from the other side.

Besides the wing backs, another constant options to pass the ball to, are the centre backs, specially the central one, he is hardly going to be marked by an opponent, becoming an essential part of the team, being responsible for dictating part of the rhythm of the game and trying to find the best teammate to pass the ball to (and consequently, passing some long bals) this is why technical defenders like David Luiz and Azpilicueta are capital for formations like theses.

Due to that, these formations are usually good to hold the possession, a player will rarely stay with no options, because of it managers like Guardiola and Sampaoli (two coaches that like their teams to play with the ball possession), enjoy putting their teams to play like this, Alaba and Lahm have played as centre backs many times in Pep’s last season at Bayern.

A disadvantage of it is the fact that the midfield is overloaded, this is why midfielders with a good work rate like Kanté and Bakayoko (recently signed by Chelsea) are crucial for the team, they occupy the midfield, allowing the team to play with more intensity.

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Also because of it, the wingers Hazard and Pedro/Willian play a bit narrower than the usual, staying closer to the striker make them available to offer more chances to vertical passes, they get closer to the wing back when the ball is very wide, but in general they stay narrower so that they can infiltrate the defensive system.

When it comes to Hoffenhiem, the two strikers do not centralise a lot and the two advanced midfielders play as roaming playmakers close from the strikers, while Rudy controls the mid of the pitch.

So, this all could mean the beginning of a new era, since the teams are getting more and more compacted and structured, it is natural to see the opponent trying to look for the wide spaces left by the adversary in order to find a way to pierce the defence.