It was a wet and rainy afternoon at the Stadio Renato DallAra between the home side Bologna and the current runners in the league, Internazionale.
Although the gap between the fiery leaders Napoli and the joint-second Milan sides is a whopping 18 points, the competition among the rest is intriguing.
Bologna has now secured seventh place in the league with qualification to European Conference League still possible. Although the fifth and sixth-placed Lazio and Atalanta are seven points away, with 14 more games to go, Thiago Motta has a real chance to create history.
Well-seasoned former PSG midfielder Motta is well-known to fans. For a midfielder, it says a lot about management if they can foster change.
Even though Pep Guardiola, Xavi Hernández, and Xabi Alonso are all Spanish midfielders-turned-managers, their insights into the game may be familiar to fans of any nationality.
The Italian-Brazilian coach Motta has worked with some of the best players in the world during his time with Barcelona, Inter, and Atletico Madrid. In this match, he faced up against one of his old teams, same as Simone Inzaghi facing his former side Bologna. Mottas idea of trying out a new structure sparked a lot of discussion across the sports community.
Before moving to Bologna, he tried out the ambitious 2-7-2 configuration in Spezia. His unconventional 2-7-2 strategy was revealed in an interview to be a 4-2-3-1 quantified in relation to its horizontal lanes as opposed to vertical ones.
The fullbacks and the goalie would be moved towards the middle, drastically transforming the 4-2-3-1 formation. What Motta called an offensive approach also saw the wingers and centre attacking midfielder pushing up to lend their legs. His style was reminiscent of a high-pressing, nimble, and short-handed squad that dominates the game.
Even though he managed most of Spezias games, he only won 27.5% of them. As a result, his plans were put on hold while he was handled like a typical manager.
Being a homegrown midfielder with a distinct style similar to that of Pep and a select few others, his input was vital to the footballing world. In the following sections, well compare and contrast the starting lineups used by the two managers and see how different their decisions have been.
This tactical analysis will examine how Mottas squad exploited Inters weakness in game 24 of the current season. This analysis will also look at the tactics used by both managers.
Lineups
Motta opted for a 4-3-3 formation, which has only been utilised in little more than 8% of the clubs games this season. Goalkeeper Jhon Lucumí and central defender Joaquin Sosa were paired with 31-year-old Łukasz Skorupski to open the game. The fullbacks were teenager Andrea Cambiaso and the Austrian Stefan Posch.
Jeremy Schouten, a Dutch international, played as the teams holding midfielder, alongside Nicolás Domínguez and Lewis Ferguson, a Scottish international, on either side. Musa Barrow, the Gambian, played in the middle of the field alongside wingers Riccardo Orsolini and Roberto Soriano.
On the other hand, Inzaghi reverted to the 3-5-2 formation that has been utilised a staggering 77% of the time this season. Since moving on from Ajax, André Onana has been the unchanging goalkeeper for most of the season. The central defenders were Matteo Darmian, Stefan de Vrij, and Alessandro Bastoni.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, and Marcelo Brozović formed a formidable central midfield unit, which was bolstered by the additions of Denzel Dumfries and Robin Gosens. They paired World Cup hero Lautaro Martínez with former Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku in the attack.
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