On Wednesday night, the stage was set for the last games of the first-ever UEFA Champions League play-offs, with eight teams fighting for the remaining four places in the Round of 16 of the most prestigious competition in club football.
In Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, two very big names in European football were fighting for one of these last spots, Peter Bosz‘s PSV Eindhoven and Thiago Motta’s Juventus.
For the reigning Dutch champion PSV, the role was very clear.
They were the underdogs, and after recent struggles in the Eredivisie, where they lost their lead after drawing three games in a row, the team knew that the task was a big one for them.
Looking at Juventus, the pressure of representing Serie A was definitely bigger than before after underdogs eliminated both AC Milan and Atalanta on Tuesday in their respective ties.
While Motta’s men have not lost many games so far this season, they are still adjusting to their new coach and squad.
They are nowhere near the title fight in Italy and will also have to go through the playoffs in this competition.
After Juventus won the first leg by one goal, the situation was rather easy: PSV needed to win at home while Juventus could not lose to advance to the next stage.
In this tactical analysis and post-match analysis, we will examine how the teams approached the game, how the game unfolded, and how PSV became the third giant slayer from Belgium / Netherlands to take out a top Italian team.
PSV Vs Juventus Lineup & Formations
In terms of formation and personnel decisions, Peter Bosz did not do anything surprising in this game.
Walter Benítez stood in goal with a back four consisting of Mauro Júnior as the left-back, Ryan Flamingo and Olivier Boscagli as the centre-halves, and Richy Ledezma as the right-back in front of him.
In midfield, Dutch internationals Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman formed the double pivot in PSV’s 4-2-3-1 formation, with Ismael Saibari playing as the traditional number 10 in front of them.
On the wings, Noa Lang on the left and Ivan Perišić on the right flanked captain Luuk the Jong, who was playing as the Dutch team’s lone striker.
Thiago Motta also used his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation this game, just as expected.
Michele Di Gregorio was their starting goalkeeper.
Federico Gatti and Renato Veiga played as the centrebacks in the back four, and Timothy Weah and Lloyd Kelly played as the left and right backs for the young coach.
In midfield, Manuel Locatelli and Teun Koopmeiners formed the double pivot for the Italian side, with USMNT player Weston McKennie playing as the attacking midfielder.
On the wings, Francisco Conceição played as the right-winger, forming a tandem with Nicolás González on the left flank.
In attack, winter-signing Randal Kolo Muani was starting as Juventus’s lone player up front.
Clear-Planned Attacking Press
If Peter Bosz style of play is known for one thing, it’s his aggressive, attacking style, which he had his teams play everywhere he went and that he stubbornly held onto in every situation he found himself in.
After their loss in Italy, PSV were down on aggregate in the tie.
It was obvious that they were going to go all out from the get-go in this game, trying to turn the tides in their favour early on.
For Thiago Motta and his men, defence has been the strongest aspect of their game so far this season.
With the lead they were bringing into this game, it was the obvious strategy to try to slow down the game, defend well, and keep possession as long as possible to take the wind out of the sails of a storming Dutch team.
However, PSV were prepared for that and tried to stay in control of the pace of the game even without the ball from the start, with a very high attacking press that caused a lot of struggles for the Italian side in the first 15 minutes of the game.
PSV were very aggressive in cutting one side of the field off, forcing Juve to one side, and being ready to pounce onto a square pass immediately.
Here, we can see a pressing situation early in the game.
After a backwards pass to the goalkeeper, de Jong instantly moves in a curved way towards di Gregorio, completely cutting off the left side of the field and forcing the goalkeeper into a square pass towards his centre-back, who even has to receive the ball in a closed position.
Now, the midfielders of PSV pounce.
As soon as Juventus plays the ball short, Saibari and Veerman leave their first assignments and run towards the side.
The ball is played at high speed, with Perisic covering Juventus’ full-back.
Saibari moves forward to form a two-man attack for the moment, allowing PSV to press Saibari onto the ball while preventing the switch back towards the other side through de Jong’s positioning.
Veiga is now caught in a bad position, and PSV has provoked many 1v1 situations on their right side, cutting off the left side and the centre completely.
With Perisic now controlling the left back, who was Veiga’s only passing option, the young centre-half is forced to play a long ball down the line that PSV is easily able to defend and intercept.
With this clear plan in the attacking press, Bosz gained early control over the game and gave his team the needed momentum.
Juventus could not find solutions for a rather long time to start the game, and PSV was pinning them in their own half.
As the first half progressed, Juventus could play through the press more often and keep possession longer, allowing them to execute their game plan better with time and even create a few opportunities.
The game was very intense, but it went into the half as a scoreless draw, which definitely was better for Juventus, even though it was clear that PSV was on a mission that day.
PSV Playing Against Juventus Deep Block
As time started to run out for PSV, Motta had his men drop back into a deep block more in the second half of the game.
Still, with a good attack, PSV managed to get the lead and, therefore, tie the game early in the second half after Perišić finished off an attack after a good pass by Noa Lang.
Juventus still struggled with their attacking output but managed to get back to level just minutes later after a set-piece with Timothy Weah finishing the rebound of a free-kick from just outside the box.
This goal allowed Juve to fall back into their block even more, and PSV now had their backs towards the wall, facing elimination with just about half an hour left.
Here, we can see Juventus in their deep block.
Motta and his men crowded the centre of the field, keeping space extremely condensed and keeping a very low distance between their lines and players for most of the time.
Even Juventus’s two wingers were moving into the centre of the field, creating more of a 4-3-2-1 shape for the renaissance of the traditional Italian Catenaccio here.
Juventus was only starting to press in their own third, not putting much pressure on PSV anywhere else on the field.
However, PSV did well with their positional play against this tactical measure, holding a lot of width with their full-backs, stretching the field out, forcing the block to move from side to side a lot, and stretching the block out just enough to find space between the lines.
Another thing they did well was their off-ball movement.
Here, they managed to drag Juventus‘ left back out of his deep position and open up the possibility for a switch.
Their centre-backs and Joey Veerman played a lot of this game with good precision on these diagonal long balls.
After getting to one side of the field, PSV was incredibly lethal in finishing off their attacks, creating 3.4 expected goals this game, doubling Juventus’s value.
Here, they occupy both defenders on the side, preventing themselves from getting doubled on the wing and forcing a defender to step out of the defensive line and the box.
The moment any Juventus defender did that, PSV’s midfielders were making runs in behind these defenders instantly, allowing them to penetrate the block easily and into dangerous assist zones rather easily.
In this situation, they lost the ball initially, but with their aggressive counter-press, the Dutch side was able to recover the ball near the box quickly once again.
From there on, they played the exact pattern of attack one more time, dragging one defender out, getting Perisic to make a run behind the line, receiving the ball on the right side of the box, and this time getting the cross off.
While Juventus’s positioning in front of their own goal was good, PSV was able to generate a 1v2 situation in the area just in front of the centre-backs, with de Jong and Saibari being marked by the same midfielder.
With a bit of luck, the ball reaches Saibari here, who then finishes the opportunity to bring PSV back to level on aggregate.
Keeping Their Foot Down
With Juventus being the clear-cut favourite in this game, you could have expected Peter Bosz and his team to be content with just getting to level and maybe forcing extra time, but if you know Bosz’s style, you know that this is not how his team rolls.
Instead of retreating now, PSV kept its foot on the gas and attacked the Italians with all it had.
Motta could not get his men out of the passive mindset they had after the equaliser, and his team could not find any solutions to create goal-scoring opportunities themselves.
Instead, he had to watch PSV pick up the pace one more time and become dangerous on the counter.
After winning the ball, PSV was always ready to attack Juventus with all they had immediately.
Motta had his men still plugging the centre of the field, and Juventus did that well for the entirety of the game, but PSV were able to break through into Juventus‘ half through the wings very often.
From then on, they used the inside-outside principle very effectively.
Here, they manage to play the ball to their target man, De Jong, who can play an easy lay-off towards his midfielder.
At the same time, Saibari makes a run behind the defensive line to prevent them from defending aggressively forward.
PSV’s midfielders always found themselves in a huge amount of space and could switch play easily once they were in, with the Juventus backline still struggling to establish position.
After getting on the wing, they once again prevented Juventus from doubling their wingers, this time with an overlapping run that occupied the right-back Weah in this situation and allowed Lang to get a cross off with three attackers in the box.
Juventus were able to hold on against the Dutch champion’s attacking wave, but this only got them into extra time, where they conceded early after a free kick.
PSV stayed active, prevented Juventus from playing in structure, and always managed to annoy the Italian giant all over the field.
Thiago Motta and his men could not find solutions in extra time and, therefore, did not score one more goal, getting eliminated after a very interesting 120 minutes in Eindhoven.
While this victory for PSV was absolutely deserved, Juventus had two very good opportunities this game to close out the tie, once early and once late.
However, Muani missed his chance, and Vlahović could only hit the woodwork in extra time, resulting in a very disappointing week for Italian football.
Conclusion
After AC Milan and Atalanta Bergamo, Juventus were the third Italian team to lose to a smaller club this week.
Only Inter Milan will remain to represent Italy and Serie A in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
Peter Bosz and PSV Eindhoven were the more aggressive and intense team for the majority of the game.
Therefore, they advanced in a very deserved way after recent struggles in their domestic league.
With their well-orchestrated attacking press and good positional play against Thiago Motta’s team’s deep block, PSV was the best team on Wednesday and handed Motta his fifth loss as a Juventus coach.
For Juventus, it was just a continuation of their struggles all season long.
They could not shake off their passiveness after phases in which they had to defend deep in their own territory, struggle to create opportunities, and then finish off their opportunities.
After Feyenoord and Club Brugge, PSV Eindhoven became the third giant slayer this week by not abandoning their ideals after a tough stretch but instead doubling down on their identity and imposing their will on their opponent.
