AS Roma Vs Juventus [3–3] – Serie A 2025/2026: How Niccolò Pisilli Shaped The Six-Goal Battle – Tactical Analysis

AS Roma hosted Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome for Gameweek 27 of Serie A, and the match ended in an entertaining 3-3 draw that does not serve either team well.

In fact, this draw puts Roma in fourth place with 51 points, with teams like Como getting closer, and the need to win the remaining games becoming mandatory if they want to secure a UEFA Champions League spot.

On the other hand, Juventus’ road to the UEFA Champions League is becoming a bit more complicated, as the team now sits in sixth place with 47 points, one behind Como and four behind Roma.

In this tactical analysis article, we will explore Roma’s tactical plans for this match and how they adjusted their players’ positioning for Juventus’ style of play.

At the same time, the article will examine Juventus’ attacking performance and what it lacked to further hurt Roma.

Roma Vs Juventus Lineups & Formations

Gian Piero Gasperini started the match in his preferred 3-4-1-2 formation, with Mile Svilar in goal and a defensive line of three centre-backs: Gianluca Mancini on the right, Evan Ndicka in the centre, and Zeki Çelik on the left.

The midfield line featured Devyne Rensch and Wesley França as right and left wing-backs, with Bryan Cristante and Manu Koné as central midfielders.

In attack, Gasperini used both Niccolò Pisilli and Lorenzo Pellegrini as advanced playmakers on paper, with Pisilli moving more towards the left side of midfield throughout the match, leaving both Pellegrini and Donyell Malen as the attacking duo.

On the other hand, Luciano Spalletti started the match in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Mattia Perin as the goalkeeper and Lloyd Kelly and Gleison Bremer as centre-backs.

Both Pierre Kalulu and Andrea Cambiaso played as full-backs, with Khéphren Thuram and Teun Koopmeiners as central midfielders, and Weston McKennie as the advanced playmaker.

And in attack, Spalletti used as a left winger, and Francisco Conceição as a right winger, with Jonathan David being the main striker.

Roma Intelligent Use Of Niccolò Pisilli Vs Juventus Attacking Limitations

Roma started the match with a slightly altered approach to Juventus’ plans, aiming to counter them with proportionate movements, especially in midfield.

This can be explained by the use of Pisilli instead of the usual wingers.

In fact, the choice of Pisilli was made to add another midfielder in the non-possession phase to prevent Juventus from exploiting their intense use of midfielders in that area, especially at the edge of the final third.

Gasperini paired Pellegrini with Malen in attack and instructed Pisilli to always retreat when the team was out of possession.

Roma Intelligent Use Of Niccolò Pisilli In The Defensive Phase

This change of plans helped Roma guarantee more reliable individual marking and avoid confusion when Juventus’ players exchange positions in midfield, as Roma would always have an extra player in that area.

This example highlights an effective defensive plan at the start of the game, with Ndicka marking David tightly, and all the other midfield players, in addition to Pisilli, having direct opponents to mark tightly.

The tight marking made Juventus’ mission more complicated, especially with the absence of their unique deep-lying playmaker, Manuel Locatelli, who is actually irreplaceable at Juventus.

His absence made Juventus more predictable in terms of playmaking and build-up from the back, as this example illustrates the overly predictable passing to David, which was easily anticipated by Ndicka, who had become very experienced and talented in anticipating such passes with success.

Roma Niccolò Pisilli First Goal Contribution

Pisilli was extremely valuable in the defensive phase for Roma as he made crucial interceptions on the left side of midfield, thanks to reading Juventus’ initial build-up well, and was able to create dangerous counterattacking actions as he could have scored early in the game thanks to his interception of a pass and his quick solo advancing towards Juventus’ goal.

It is important to note that Roma’s first goal of the match was created thanks to a Pisilli crucial interception of the ball from Kalulu on that left side, and it was that recovery of the ball that created a lot of space for França to advance with the ball and cut inside before curving the ball towards the far post.

Pisilli’s interception was crucial mainly because it obliged Kalulu to leave a lot of space behind him and put Juventus in numerical inferiority in the area where França was advancing.

Juventus Attacking Solutions & Limitations

On the other hand, Juventus relied on alternating their players’ positions and, especially, on advancing with different players each time, in an attempt to confuse Roma’s man-marking system.

Spalletti instructed Thuram and Cambiaso to penetrate more often towards the box, and both players were dangerous in this regard, ensuring numerical superiority in the final third when they did so.

Moreover, David’s work without the ball was impressive, as he succeeded in applying effective pressing to Roma’s midfielders on several occasions and made recoveries that were well-exploited.

The following occasion was created thanks to David’s pressing and interception.

It was followed by an immediate through pass from Thuram towards Yıldız.

The latter, however, failed to handle the created counterattacking situation well, as he fixed Ndicka and pretended to pass the ball, then went for a shot.

However, his shooting was not accurate at all and he missed the goal.

Missing similar opportunities was crucial to the result of this match, as shooting with greater accuracy in this action would have helped Juventus take the early advantage and force Roma to advance and leave space at the back.

In fact, Yıldız had the opportunity to better exploit Roma’s disorganised defending in this action as Conceição was completely unmarked and was better-positioned to score.

Choosing to go for shooting at the expense of passing to a better-positioned teammate could have been understandable if Yıldız’s shot was dangerous on goal.

But, shooting out of target while a teammate is unmarked cannot be acceptable from Juventus’ attacking star, as this action contributed directly to making Juventus draw.

Roma Line-Breaking Passing & Donyell Malen Value Inside The Box

Juventus missed a few other chances, mainly due to inaccurate final passing or late Roma’s deviation attempts, something that prevented Juventus from having the advantage on the scoresheet despite being more dangerous in terms of chance creation compared to Roma.

On the other hand, Roma were also slow in some counterattacking situations, as Cristante, for instance, failed to serve França or Malen in 2v2 situations that required quick passing from Roma’s midfielders.

However, Cristante preferred to advance with the ball and missed a crucial opportunity to score a second goal.

Juventus’ equaliser highlighted the team’s improving set-piece plans and the good understanding between Bremer and Conceição, with the latter executing an outstanding half-volley.

Roma were able to exploit a set-piece opportunity soon after as well, with Ndicka succeeding in escaping from Cambiaso to add a second goal for Roma, exposing Juventus’ marking issues inside the box.

The match’s most decisive action took place following a very intelligent through pass from Koné towards Malen, exploiting the advanced defensive block of Juventus to provide a line-breaking pass.

Malen’s handling of the situation was remarkable, as he took the advantage over Kelly thanks to his pace.

Then he touched the ball twice, once to advance a little bit away from the goalkeeper and again to lob the ball swiftly towards the net.

Roma were unable to protect their advantage, however, and failed to defend well enough against Juventus’ attacks, especially following the addition of Jérémie Boga, who added more danger from the left wing.

Failing to mark him well during some of the actions cost Roma a second goal, as that’s an aspect that Gasperini needs to fix going forward in order to concede fewer late goals in similar matches.

Furthermore, conceding the equalising goal in the last minutes of the match due to poor set-piece marking inside the box can only confirm that Roma need to reconsider the way they defend, especially when they have the advantage on the scoresheet.

Defending with greater personality and intensity in such moments will be necessary for the team to concede fewer points in games against direct opponents.

Conclusion

Roma will regret how they finished the last minutes of the game, as they could have defended better in many of those situations, especially in the two-goal actions that helped Juventus equalise.

Therefore, Gasperini will need to work harder with the players to become much more compact at the back during such delicate moments of the games in order to concede fewer points in what’s left of the season; otherwise, it will be difficult for them to guarantee a European spot.

On the other hand, it counts for Juventus that they made an outstanding comeback despite being two goals down and having played an intense and tiring game during the week.

This can only highlight the personality and positive attitude of this team, as well as the fact that the team is improving significantly in terms of chance creation and playmaking.

That said, it will be important to focus a bit more on final passing, finishing, and defending set-pieces to win more points ahead of the final battle for the European spots.