For all the talk around Jose Mourinhos position as Manchester United manager, and the speculation that has swirled around Old Trafford for most of this season, there has been a quiet (well, as quiet as you can get with Mourinho) turnaround occurring in the red half of Manchester. United, in coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 in Turin, have now lost just one of their last six games a 1-0 reverse to the same opponents at Old Trafford a couple of weeks ago. During this time, they have shown immense powers of recovery to win against Newcastle, Bournemouth and now Juventus, while also unluckily only managing a draw away to Chelsea, all after having gone behind initially. It surely cannot be said anymore that Mourinho has lost the dressing room; these players are certainly fighting for him and the club they represent, while Mourinho himself looks like he has rediscovered his mojo, making decisive in-game changes and genuinely enjoying the provocation he receives from opposition fans. Ahead of the Manchester derby on Sunday, this piece will look at the key tactical talking points from Wednesday nights game in Turin, and how United managed to wrest back the advantage and beat a Juventus team who had enjoyed a lengthy unbeaten run at home.
Lineups
While the above image shows the Bianconeri as having lined up in a 4-4-2, it was actually a 4-3-3, with Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield alongside Pjanic and Khedira, and Paulo Dybala reprising his role as a false nine of sorts from the reverse fixture, having Ronaldo and Cuadrado play off him on the flanks.
Jose Mourinho brought in Ander Herrera to strengthen Uniteds midfield, which had been overrun by Juventus in the reverse fixture, while Alexis Sanchez continued as the striker in Romelu Lukakus absence. Juan Mata dropped to the bench, with Jesse Lingard taking his place.
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