Serie A Women 2022/23 : How Milan exploited Juventus’s defensive mistakes by relying on excellent finishing – tactical analysis

Milan Women met Juventus Women in a clash between two of the best teams in Serie A Women and Milan succeeded in beating their opponents 4-3 following an entertaining match witnessing numerous goals, knowing that Juventus tried to make a comeback but were not successful in completing it. Milan, therefore, became fifth in the standings with 12 points while Juventus are holding the fourth spot with 14 points.

Both teams have not been performing at their best during the start of the season as they dropped many points but for Milan, such a win can change the whole season and it can affect the whole mentality of the team positively. It will most probably give the players much-needed confidence ahead of the upcoming games and will certainly motivate them to win more games and play with the same determination and efficiency.

For Juventus however, things are not going in their favour lately and the team is struggling to win important games. They drew against both Inter and Sassuolo and this time they lost against Milan who are not going through a beautiful period either. Therefore, this loss raises a lot of questions about Juventus’ form, especially when knowing that they will have to play against Lyon in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

In this tactical analysis article, we will shed light on Milan’s attacking performance and tactics while exploring Juventus’ reaction and what led to their loss against Milan. The analysis will tackle Juventus’ defensive errors.

Lineups

Milan opted for the 3-5-2 formation with Laura Giuliani, Laura Fusetti, Małgorzata Mesjasz and Guðný Árnadóttir in defence, Kamila Dubcová, Greta Adami and Christy Grimshaw as central midfielders, Valentina Bergamaschi and Angelica Soffia as wingers while the attacking duo was composed of Kosovare Asllani and Martina Piemonte.

On the other hand, Juventus started the match with Roberta Aprile as a goalkeeper, Matilde Lundorf Skovsen, Sara Gama, Linda Sembrant and Amanda Nildén in defence, Martina Rosucci and Sofie Junge Pedersen as central midfielders, Valentina Cernoia and Agnese Bonfantini as wingers, Arianna Caruso as an advanced playmaker and Sofia Cantore as the team’s striker.

Milan’s attacking performance

The Rossonere played one of their best attacking games this season despite facing one the most organised teams in Italy. Such a performance can only let the players develop and improve what they did wrong previously. Milan did not wait too long to score the first goal as the team relied on Piemonte to win the aerial duels and she did so successfully in this goal action. But more importantly, she was aware of the position and movement of her teammate and therefore provided her with a backward header exactly in the direction of Asllani’s run.

The latter was also attentive enough to choose the adequate timing for her movement without the ball in order to escape from being marked and find Piemonte’s pass while being in the best possible situation to continue the run and exclude defenders. In fact, Asllani made things look too easy when she got past her marker, avoided Sembrant’s disturbance attempts, and shot the ball while being surrounded by two defenders, scoring Milan’s first goal.