Juventus, who could possibly beat their own record of 102 points in a season are on course to win their record eighth straight Serie A title, faced a tough challenge at home to AC Milan. However, Gennaro Gattuso was trying to lead Milan to be the first team this season to win at the Allianz Stadium.
On top of this, he is aiming to secure a fourth-place finish and a place in next year’s Champions League for the first time since 2014. In this tactical analysis, we will look to see if Juventus are on track to create history and if Milan can make ground in the race for Europe.
Lineups
Juventus set up in a 4-4-2, but there was no Cristiano Ronaldo who picked up a muscle injury during the international break. In his absence, Mario Mandžukić and Paulo Dybala led the line for Juventus. Former Liverpool midfielder Emre Can played alongside Federico Bernardeschi, while fellow former Reds Suso and Fabio Borini played on the wings of a 4-3-3 for Milan. Franck Kessié, Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Tiémoué Bakayoko made up the Milan midfield.
The Juventus shape
On the team sheet, Juventus played in a 4-4-2 but at times they changed to a 5-3-2, with Bernardeschi, Can and Rodrigo Bentancur as the midfield three. This allowed Juventus to slide across to become more compact when Milan had possession. When Milan moved the ball to the other side, Juventus would simply shuffle across to that side. This is why Milan only had 1.15 expected goals as they could not break down Juventus.
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