Serie A 2021/22: How Allegri’s managerial choices lead to a poor derby day display vs Torino – tactical analysis

Juventus vs Torino, also known as the Derby della Mole, has been a key fixture within the Serie A calendar for over 100 years. For all of Juventus’ domination over their local rivals, and frankly, the whole league, their first meeting back in 1907 saw Torino taking all three points. Needless to say, Torino has not had the best luck against their Torinese, facing them in 206 official matches, having only beaten them 56 times, compared to Juventus’ 92 wins.

Over recent years, this curse over their older brother has continued, with their last win dating back to seven years ago in the 2014/2015 season, with a 2-1 home victory. From that point onwards, Il Toro has only shelled out three draws before their fixture on Friday night. While Torino luck may come during this fixture, Juventus, as of late, has been going through a rough patch over the last two years.

Having not won their tenth Scudetto in a row, losing out to Antonio Conte’s Inter, The Old Lady looked to brush themselves off with the re-appointment of Massimiliano Allegri, hoping to steer the ship back onto the correct course. Because of inconsistencies, a title is out of the question for Juventus, with the top four the major priority. Torino is also on a change of paths, hiring ex Hellas Verona manager Ivan Jurić. Before the Derby della Mole, Torino sat tenth place, with two games in hand over seventh place Roma, looking to capitalise, giving them a chance of European football. This fixture has usually been a formality for Juventus, but for a while, meaningful points are at stake for both sides, which is quite a rarity, which can only make for an exciting game.

In this tactical analysis, I will cover the intricacies that facilitated Torino’s first-half dominance. Also, I will cover Massimiliano Allegri’s tactical performance, as his team failed to perform during the opening passages of the game. Last, I will discuss Torino’s lack of groundbreaking, which cost them all three points.

Line-up

The home side Juventus started this game using a 4-3-3 formation; Wojciech Szczęsny was in goal. In the back four, former Chelsea defender Juan Cuadrado and Luca Pellegrini are at full-back, with Alex Sandro and Matthijs de Ligt at centre-back. In midfield, Manuel Locatelli, ex-PSG Adrien Rabiot and Denis Zakaria. The front line comprised Paulo Dybala, Álvaro Morata and Dušan Vlahović.

Ivan Jurić’s made use of a 3-4-2-1 formation with Vanja Milinković-Savić. In the back three, Ricardo Rodriguez, Gleison Bremer and Koffi Djidji, with Wilfried Singo and Mërgim Vojvoda at wing-back. Rolando Mandragora and Saša Lukić made up the double-pivot with Josip Brekalo and Tommaso Pobega. Andrea Belotti leads the line.

Torino taking authority 

With Juventus being the home side, besides having more quality at their disposal on paper, most would consider them clear favourites, but this was not the case. Torino enters enemy territory with a coherent plan in and out of possession and found a decent degree of success. Regardless of Juventus’ sucker punch, coming as a Matthijs de Ligt back-post set-piece routine, Torino played well during the first half.

On the ball, Torino mixed up their play during the first phase, playing long to the likes of Belotti and Pobega. Torino fancied themselves against their opponents and could work the ball from front to back frequently. A key theme within Torino’s build-up play structure was their manipulation of space and countermovements in wide areas and finding the free man and creating overloads. During the duration of this match, Torino had a few ways to bypass their opposition’s defensive structure. Their use of pinning their rivals to create clear passing lanes was key; here Djidji is in possession and his being pressed by Álvaro Morata, who is blocking the lane to a pass out wide to Torino’s right wing-back. Saša Lukić dropped back into the back-line, attracting the attention of Adrien Rabiot, which created a clear path to the Pobega in the half-space.