Coppa Italia 2019/20: Juventus vs Milan – tactical analysis

The second leg of the first Coppa Italia semi-final saw Juventus host Milan at the Allianz Stadium on 12 June 2020. The game was setup beautifully after the first leg ended square at 1-1 at the San Siro. Milan, with that draw, broke a streak of 9 consecutive defeats against Juventus. Milan had twice as many shots and on-target shots as Juventus, despite having less of the ball. But an unfortunate penalty conceded in injury time saw Cristiano Ronaldo equalise for Juventus. This tactical analysis is on the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals.

The second leg at the Allianz Stadium began rather unceremoniously for the visitors. Milan conceded a penalty in the 13th minute, which Cristiano Ronaldo failed to convert (!). Six seconds later, Ante Rebić was sent off for a kung-fu tackle on Danilo. From then on, Milan held their defensive shape to frustrate the hosts. The game ended 0-0 and 13 time winners Juventus, progressed to the final of the Coppa Italia where they will play Napoli.

Given that Milan were missing key players due to suspension, and were down to ten men within the first 15 minutes, it would be fair to say that they won the game with the 0-0 draw. However, Juventus won the tie and progressed on the away goals rule after drawing 1-1 at the San Siro. This tactical analysis aims to study the tactics deployed by both the teams and how the game unfolded. The analysis is solely based on this game, and all the data and image references used are courtesy Wyscout.

Line-up

In a tweak of tactics, Maurizio Sarri setup his Juventus side in a 4-3-3. Theyve only used this formation 16% of the time, and have favoured a 4-3-1-2 the most (61%). Gianluigi Buffon started in goal with Alex Sandro, Matthijs De Ligt, Leonardo Bonucci & Danilo as the back four. Rodrigo Bentancur, Blaise Matuidi and the under-fire Miralem Pjanić started in midfield behind a front three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Douglas Costa & Paulo Dybala.

Stefano Pioli also altered tactics by setting his team up in a 4-2-3-1. Milan have used a host of formations this season including a 4-3-3 (23%) and a 4-1-4-1 (22%), both more often that the 4-2-3-1 (17%). Gianluigi Donnarumma started in goal with Andrea Conti, Simon Kjær, Alessio Romagnoli and Davide Calabria as the back four. Franck Kessié and Ismaël Bennacer played as the midfield pairing. Lucas Paquetá, Giacomo  Bonaventura and Hakan Çalhanoğlu played the three behind sole striker Ante Rebić. Milan had to make do without three key players who were out with suspension  Theo Hernández, Zlatan Ibrahimović (+injury) and Samuel Castillejo.

Juventus Smart Press

Juventus played with a front three of Ronaldo, Dybala and Costa. While the usual high press would involve the three forwards pressing against the opposition defence, Juventus switched tactics up a bit. The tactical analysis highlights how a fourth player constantly came up from the midfield to press the opposition defence, along with the front three. This way, Juventus would close down Milans multiple passing options with a sense of urgency, and force them to pass the ball to the only path theyve left deliberately open. By making the next pass predictable, they were able to do two things:

a. Force the play into a d