The Serie A was back in action with Juventus hosting Verona at the Allianz stadium. Both teams had had an inconsistent start to their campaigns both had won just two games out of their opening four fixtures. It was therefore imperative for both the teams to get their seasons back on track after the international break. More so for Juventus, who are chasing Serie A glory again, but are already being leaders Milan. However, the game wouldnt add much to the matches won column for either team, as the game finished a 1-1 draw.
For Verona, the draw would count as a good result as picking up points at the Allianz Stadium has been difficult to come by for most teams. For Juventus, they must only wonder how far they can get if they are to keep dropping points like this. This tactical analysis brings to light the tactics and plays that both the teams applied in the game. The analysis aims to highlight some of the events that unfolded in the game, which led to the scoreline.
Line-ups
Andrea Pirlo set his Juventus team up in 4-4-2 tactics. Wojciech Szczęsny started in goal with a back three of Merih Demiral, Leonardo Bonucci and Danilo. The midfield five consisted of Juan Cuadrado, Aaron Ramsey, Arthur Melo, Adrien Rabiot and Federico Bernardeschi. Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata played in the attack.
Ivan Jurić set his Verona team up in 3-4-3 tactics, for the visit to the Allianz Stadium. Marco Silvestri started in goal with a back three of Federico Ceccherini, Matteo Lovato and Alan Empereur. The midfield four consisted of Davide Faraoni, Ronaldo Vieira, Adrien Tameze and Darko Lazović. Ebrima Colley, Nikola Kalinić and Mattia Zaccagni played as the front three in attack.
Juventus: Off the ball
This section of the tactical analysis discusses the tactics deployed by Juventus when they were not in possession of the ball. Largely, theres one of three options that teams can adopt when theyre not in possession of the ball:
- Press the opposition team, and win back possession of the ball.
- Hold defensive shape and break the play down, thereby winning back the possession.
- A theoretically ideal mixture of point a & b.
Juventus, in the course of the game, deployed both tactics a high press to win the ball back, and also held defensive shape to break down opposition play. In this section of the tactical analysis, we look at instances where Juventus held shape. The analysis looks at instances of Juventus defensive shape, how they transitioned (or didnt) in shape, and whether or not the tactics paid dividends. It is important to note before the analysis that Juventus played with 4-4-2 tactics.
The first instance for the analysis is
