After an intriguing first leg, where both teams had their opportunities, Juventus brought the advantage home thanks to their defensive versatility and a little help from Cristiano Ronaldo. The clash between the young, fast Ajax and Juventus’ experienced squad was an interesting one, but it wasn’t decisive as both team’s extreme motivation led to a 1-1 draw.
Ajax performed in an organised manner, managing to force Juventus into seeking different options during the build-up. Applying a high press was one of Erik ten Hag’s strategies for forcing the Italian champions into the wide areas. This was in order to block the passing lanes to Miralem Pjanić and stop them from playing through the central areas.
Initially, the Bianconeri had some struggles breaking the press but eventually managed to fit a different approach and get what they needed the most: an away goal. But the aspiring semi-finalists needed to be creative in order to catch their opponents off guard.
This tactical analysis preview will dive into how both teams could expose their opponents weaknesses and reach the Champions League semi-finals.
Substitutions advantage
Juventus’ advantage when it comes to bench players is undeniable. When both sides are extra prepared an explosive factor is very important. Being versatile at the back is what helped Juve in the first leg, but having some more options up-front is what might make the difference at home.
Ajax managed to stop the Black and Whites from producing too many shots and there were a couple of reasons for this success. By forcing the actions out wide and stopping the visitors from building from the back, Ajax made it difficult for Juventus to reach their driving force in Miralem Pjanić.
Juventus had to use Alex Sandro on the left quite often, who would then create short pass combinations with Blaise Matuidi in order to deliver the ball into the central areas. The team tried to use João Cancelo too, but Ajax’s man-marking and press were hard to overcome.
The reason for that not being so productive was Ronaldo’s movements. Due to his injury, his movements were far more narrow which affected the team’s style of play immensely.
The heat maps
