Juventus Vs AC Milan [0–0] Serie A 2025/2026: Defensive Solidity But Attacking Waste – Tactical Analysis

Juventus faced AC Milan at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, and the match ended in a 0-0 draw that certainly did not suit either team.

Both sides had goal-scoring opportunities in the match, but neither team was capable of exploiting them as they should have, missing a golden chance to gain an advantage over their direct opponent in the long run.

For Juventus, the draw can be considered a negative result mainly because the Bianconeri were playing at home and also because this marks their third draw since the start of the season.

At the same time, some might consider it a positive result since it keeps Juventus unbeaten in the league so far, with three wins and three draws overall.

That said, Juventus still need tactical improvements and individual work, especially from a finishing and playmaking perspective, to be much more decisive and dangerous against the top Italian teams.

More importantly, Juventus need to confirm a starting lineup and find their references on the pitch.

Igor Tudor has yet to settle on a starting XI and continues to experiment with new lineups in almost every game.

This reliance on multiple solutions and continuous turnover might be understandable, given that Juventus already play on two fronts and will soon be playing on three fronts, as they begin their Coppa Italia journey as well.

However, the excess turnover and the numerous lineup changes made in each game can negatively impact the team in terms of chemistry, identity, and even creativity.

Players who are not accustomed to playing with each other frequently find it difficult to quickly succeed in creating passing combinations or complex attacking plans, unlike those who play with each other regularly.

On the other hand, Massimiliano Allegri can be satisfied with his team’s defensive performance since they kept a clean sheet despite conceding a few dangerous opportunities.

Overall, the team’s defensive organisation continues to prove that Milan are much stronger than they were last season, at least from a defensive point of view.

However, there are plenty of attacking negatives to consider in this match and try to fix for the upcoming games if Milan want to challenge seriously for the top spots this season.

Perhaps the most remarkable miss was Christian Pulisic’s penalty, and that makes Milan feel that this draw in Turin was a negative result.

They had the golden opportunity to get the three points, but missed it.

In this tactical analysis of the match between Juventus and Milan, it will be helpful to focus on Milan’s defensive organisation and what helped them stop Juventus’ attacks, avoid conceding goals, and limit their danger despite conceding a few dangerous chances.

The analysis will also examine Milan’s attacking performance and identify areas for improvement to become more decisive on such occasions and capitalize on opportunities when they arise.

Juventus Vs Milan Lineups, Formations & In-Game Changes

Tudor preferred to start this match with a different lineup than his latest games, and this has been a recurring theme lately.

The use of various players in each game keeps everyone concentrated and ready to make an impact, but it also affects the chemistry between the players and the team’s identity on the pitch.

Tudor opted for the 3-4-2-1 formation, with Michele Di Gregorio as the goalkeeper, and a defensive line composed of Federico Gatti, Lloyd Kelly, and Daniele Rugani. 

This formation was chosen because Bremer was unavailable, and Tudor decided to rely on Pierre Kalulu as a wing-back, rather than in his natural position as a centre-back.

We can say that Tudor played with fire by starting the match with Rugani, who had not started any match this season prior to this one, which suggests that he lacks match sharpness and the ability to keep up with his direct opponents’ attempts.

Luckily for Rugani and Juventus, Milan failed to exploit Rugani’s weaknesses even though Allegri’s instructions included focusing on targeting Rugani and pushing him into committing mistakes, especially during the second half.

In this regard, using Kalulu as a third centre-back would have given Juventus’ defence much more guarantee.

Although Kalulu’s choice as a right wingback is understandable given Tudor’s fear of conceding dangerous penetrations from that left wing, he should have taken into consideration the fact that Kalulu could not offer reliable playmaking or penetration support.

Such choices confirm the fact that Tudor’s plans were a bit more defensive.

He was planning to secure a draw as a priority and then consider scoring goals during the second half with more attacking changes.

However, that should not be the plan of a big team like Juventus, especially when they play at home.

The midfield consisted of Manuel Locatelli and Weston McKennie as central midfielders and Kalulu and Andrea Cambiaso as wing-backs.

Tudor could have used a more balanced option for the right wing-back role.

He had João Mário and Edon Zhegrova on the bench, and both players could have provided much more support to the playmaking and attacking phases, with instructions to also support the defensive phase, in addition to covering Gatti on that flank.

Attacking-wise, Tudor opted for Francisco Conceição as a right winger and Kenan Yıldız as a left winger, knowing that those were his best options for these positions.

Jonathan David started as the main striker.

In fact, David, Dušan Vlahović, and Loïs Openda all got their chances as main strikers and did not fully convince when they started games, and that’s why Tudor kept giving each one of them chances.

However, failing to stick with one starting striker risks reducing the confidence of all three players in their abilities and their run of form.

That’s why Tudor would have been wiser to start the match with Vlahović.

He looked the most in form during the latest games, even when being used during the game.

This would have given him the chance he needed to continue proving himself and exploiting his momentum.

Given that the game was tactically complex and blocked from both sides, Tudor’s in-game changes were rewarding for Juventus.

The change from the 3-4-2-1 formation to the 3-5-2 formation helped the team regain control of the midfield and halt Milan’s midfield dominance during the last 20 minutes of the game.

Tudor’s changes included substituting Vlahović and Openda for David upfront, even though this change could have been made much earlier, given David’s unconvincing performance and disappointing misses.

The other valuable substitution was adding Khéphren Thuram to the midfield while sacrificing the two wingers Conceição and Yıldız.

For Milan, Allegri made a few changes compared to the previous games, preferring to maintain continuity, especially since the same formation and lineup had yielded outstanding results against Napoli.

He opted for the 3-5-2 formation with Mike Maignan as a goalkeeper, Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia, and Strahinja Pavlović as centre-backs, Davide Bartesaghi as a left wing-back instead of the suspended Pervis Estupiñán, and Alexis Saelemaekers as a right wing-back, confirming his starting spot once again on a key occasion.

The midfield was composed of Luka Modrić, a regista who controlled the tempo from the defensive midfield and initiated most of the build-up actions by dropping back to the defensive line when in possession.

Youssouf Fofana and Adrien Rabiot were central midfielders.

The attack was once again led by Santiago Giménez and Christian Pulisic, despite Rafael Leão’s presence on the bench.

Rafael Leão Missed Opportunities

The latter got his chance later in the game and was unable to “kill it” as he should have when he got two inviting goalscoring situations, but failed to convert them into goals due to his poor finishing.

The following picture shows the one chance he got at the end of the game.

After he made the needed movement without the ball to catch Modrić’s key pass, his finishing was abysmal, preventing Milan from getting the three points.

It is true that Leão is not yet back to his excellent run of form.

However, he must capitalize on the opportunities he gets by scoring when needed and being more disciplined in the defensive phase as well.

Otherwise, he risks losing his spot as a starter.

The risk is becoming concrete mainly because Milan have shown that they can win without Leão.

Therefore, he needs to show more determination and desire to play and to score in order to be useful when he plays and to oblige Allegri to use him as a starter once again.

Furthermore, Leão’s position is causing a dilemma within Milan’s coaching staff.

It will not be easy for him to adapt to the striker position, even though he used to play it at Lille.

Simply because his abilities make him more adapted to play on the left wing, where he can find more space and less marking, compared to the striker role, where he finds less time and space yet more marking and disturbance.

That’s why Allegri needs to work further with Leão to reach the best possible solution for both sides.

Allegri plans to use him mainly as a striker and appears not to be ready to change his 3-5-2 formation just to play Leão on the wing.

Milan Defensive Compactness Vs Juventus

Milan confirmed once again in this match that they are building a very powerful defence that concedes a minimal number of dangerous opportunities per game and does not allow their opponents to find spaces, especially inside the box.

Although there were a few mistakes, the overall performance suggests that Milan performed well, especially considering the game was played at the Allianz Stadium.

Milan made 41 interceptions and 21 clearances in this match, and these high numbers indicate that they successfully mitigated Juventus’ threat.

Milan Tight Marking Inside The Box

It is true that Juventus were still capable of finding spaces at the back of the defense, thanks to Conceição’s dangerous penetration and dribbling skills.

However, Milan were still able to mark the players waiting for crosses inside the box, limiting the threat of Conceição’s penetrations efficiently.

The following example of one of the successful penetrations from Conceição highlights Milan’s disciplined, tight marking on each of Juventus’ players inside the box, ensuring they anticipate their movements and block potential attempts to reach the ball.

This tight marking was continuous throughout the game and helped Milan avoid dangerous situations.

Milan Shot Prevention

Another important aspect that helped Milan be very compact at the back is the ability of their defenders to always be very close to their direct opponents and prevent any potential shooting attempt using sliding tackles, knowing that the team must have such reflexes and apply them with intelligence and determination, and not just for the sake of trying.

In Milan’s clearances, we saw the desire and determination to avoid conceding goals, just like in the previous game against Napoli when Milan’s defenders blocked many of Napoli’s shots.

This also helps Maignan and gives him more confidence, as it is very important to have a defensive line that helps a lot.

The following example highlights Gabbia’s automatic sliding tackle to prevent a potential shooting attempt from David in a crucial situation.

What helped in this situation was that David slipped and did not exploit the opportunity in the needed way.

However, despite that, Gabbia’s reaction and reflexes showcased Milan’s attention and readiness to block any threat.

Maignan Crucial Saves

Furthermore, Milan cannot always avoid making defensive mistakes as they did in this match.

The difference is that having world-class goalkeepers helps a lot in such situations and can compensate for defensive mistakes.

Maignan was able to make a miraculous save when Gatti got the ball after a confusion within Milan’s defence and was inches away from the goal, but Maignan was attentive and reactive enough to save Gatti’s volley.

If Milan keeps improving their defensive performances and work on avoiding the few mistakes they commit in addition to consolidating Maignan’s good run of form, the Rossoneri can become even tougher to score against in the coming fixtures.

Conclusion

Milan avoided a loss at a difficult stadium and were very close to winning if they had scored the penalty or capitalized on the crucial goal-scoring chances they created.

However, overall, the team is heading in the right direction, especially from a defensive perspective.

On the other hand, Juventus still need to find the balance and consistency in terms of lineup in order to guarantee more organisation on the pitch match by match and become much more compact at the back.

At the same time, finishing will be crucial, and having a main striker and a backup striker will also help the players understand their exact situation and gain more confidence to perform better.