Aggressive Peter Bosz PSV Tactics That Beat Thiago Motta’s Juventus In Champions League – Tactical Analysis

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 Boszs 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 teams 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 Juventuss 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 midfi