The Allianz Stadium hosted a controversial affair between two sides competing at the top end of Serie A, with Juventus facing up against Atalanta. This tactical analysis will break down the game that ended as a 2-2 draw.
Juventus, led by Maurizio Sarri, are coming off the back of a disappointing display and defeat against AC Milan, after a hot streak of form before that. In that game, they were missing a couple of their key players in the starting XI, namely Matthijs de Ligt and Paulo Dybala, but in that match, they alsseveral key errors defensively. Sarri’s tactics were not solid enough in that match-up as the defence had little to no cover from the midfield regardless. We will discover in this analysis if he altered this in any significant way.
Atalanta, manged by Gian Piero Gasperini, have also been in a rich reign of form since the resumption of Serie A football. Gasperini, who has a history with Juventus as a former youth graduate at the club, lost his most recent affair with them back in November, losing that game 3-1, which was during a period of struggle for the Nerazzuri. Atalanta are coming off the back of twelve consecutive victories in all competitions, scoring four or more in five of those fixtures. This analysis will take a deeper dive into this game, and how Juventus managed to put an end to this winning streak that Atalanta had put together.
Lineups
Juventus lined up in a 4-4-2 formation, which looked to utilise their strengths down the wings and participate in passing triangles which we have seen become a staple within Sarri’s tactics. They were fronted by Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala as the two centre-forwards. Dybala’s return was welcome, and it was hoped that he would introduce a more present link between the midfield and attack. The wide-midfielders were Blaise Matuidi and Federico Bernardeschi, and by choosing Matuidi as a left-midfielder, Sarri was anticipating Papu Gómez to drift out towards the right wing, as he has done in recent matches, so the Frenchman was there to provide extra cover.
Regarding the midfield, Sarri went with Rodrigo Bentancur and Adrien Rabiot as the central midfield pivot, with Sarri hoping they would perform recoveries in the centre and progress the ball with their passing ability. The back four consisted of Danilo, Matthijs de Ligt, Leonardo Bonucci, and Juan Cuadrado, opting to bench Daniele Rugani following the return of de Ligt from suspension. Wojciech Szczęsny kept his place as the goalkeeper.
Atalanta set out in a 3-4-1-2 formation which looked to utilise width in their attacks and went forward at a quicker tempo than they typically would. The two strikers were Josip Iličić and Duván Zapata and were accompanied by Papu Gómez in the #10 role, with Iličić starting his first game since early March.
The wing-backs in this game were Timothy Castagne as left-wing-back and Hans Hateboer as the right-wing-back, with Robin Gosens missing out in this game, maybe because of speculation regarding his future at the club, and links to Inter Milan. The central midfield pivot was Remo Freuler and Marten de Roon, both capable in the transitional phase of play especially. The back three consisted of Berat Djimsiti, José Luis Palomino, and Rafael Tolói, with Pierluigi Gollini in between the sticks.
