Although Inter Milan have been crowned Serie A champions already, the Derby d’Italia was still a meaningful clash as Juventus were in their biggest spot of bother since finishing seventh in the 2010-11 season. Andrea Pirlo’s team are in serious danger of missing out on a top four spot, and therefore a place in next seasons Champions League, for the first time in ten years, and came into this match desperately needing a win to keep in touch with Napoli and AC Milan in the table.
The match itself was a bonkers one, with both teams tactics being overshadowed by the referees performance. While Juventus dominated the first half, as seen by the respective shot tallies at that time (10 for Juve vs just one for Inter), this dynamic changed completely in the second half after Rodrigo Bentancur was sent off. Our tactical analysis will show the most interesting tactical elements of this match, as well as how both coaches reacted to each others changes.
Lineups
There were no real surprises in the Juventus lineup Pirlo sent out an extremely strong side, with Dejan Kulusevski supporting Cristiano Ronaldo in attack, the Brazilian pair of Alex Sandro and Danilo at full-back, and with the 32-year-old Juan Cuadrado pushed up on the flank from where he would have a significant impact on this match.
Inter Milan also put out a strong lineup, after Antonio Conte had rested a few players following their Serie A triumph. The Romelu Lukaku-Lautaro Martínez partnership returned, while Christian Eriksen, Marcelo Brozović, and Nicolò Barella started in midfield in Contes classic 3-5-2 formation.
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