Juventus host Internazionale this weekend in Serie A in yet another rendition of the Derby d’Italia, the fourth time both teams have met since the turn of the new year just over four months ago.
Antonio Conte’s side have already wrapped up their first Scudetto in over a decade, beating Juventus’ run of nine Serie A titles in a row, and so have nothing left to play for apart from the personal pride of winning the historic match against one of their biggest rivals.
Andrea Pirlo’s Juventus on the other hand have everything left to play for. They are currently staring down the barrel of finishing outside the top four as it stands, which would be a true indictment of what has been an utterly horrific season for the Bianconeri under their new and inexperienced manager.
A loss in the derby this weekend could prove to be the final nail in the coffin for their hopes of playing in the UEFA Champions League next season as well as the final nail in the coffin for Pirlo’s time in charge of Juventus. The idea of Cristiano Ronaldo playing Thursday night football in the UEFA Europa League next season now explicitly lies in the hands of their former manager.
It is likely to be a very exciting match from a neutral perspective and one with plenty of tactical elements to look forward to. This article will be a tactical analysis preview of the game between Juventus and Inter. It will be an analysis of the tactics that both managers will look to deploy as well as where each team can look to hurt each other tactically.
Lineups and formations
Juventus’ starting lineup will be slightly more difficult to predict than Inter’s although Conte may also look to rotate some of his starting eleven to give fringe players some more minutes in Serie A considering the title has already been won.
Total Football Analysis predicts that this will be the starting eleven that Pirlo puts out in the derby although, as already stated, his starting lineups have been very sporadic and unpredictable during his time at Juventus.
What has not been unpredictable though is the base formation used by the Bianconeri in their games. The Italian head coach opts to set his side up in a 4-4-2 base formation, but this shape is only replicated in the defensive phases. When in possession it is far more fluid and generally looks more like a 3-5-2 or 3-2-3-2.
