Possession isn’t everything: How Roma’s defending helped defeat dominant Ajax

Two of the biggest clubs in footballing folklore faced off in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals earlier in the week, with Serie A side Roma picking up a 2-1 win in Amsterdam in the first leg, thanks to a late goal from Ibañez. Eredivisie leaders Ajax have been scoring for fun this season but struggled to find the goal to keep them in the competition, despite all of their possession. This tactical analysis will take a look at how Roma approached the game – how they set out to defend their lead, as well as an analysis of Ajax’s attacking methods. If Roma want to get the better of the likes of Juventus and Inter in Serie A, they have some positives and negatives to work through.

Lineups

Hosts Roma deployed a 3-4-3 formation, which really spent a lot of time being a 5-3-2 or 5-4-1 under the pressure of the Ajax attack. The back three consisted of Ibañez, Bryan Cristante, and Gianluca Mancini – Rick Karsdorp and Riccardo Calafiori playing as the wing-backs. Jordan Veretout lined up next to Amadou Diawara in the centre of the park, who also spent a lot of the game undertaking defensive duties. Goalscorer Edin Džeko lead the line.

Erik ten Hag set his Ajax side up in their 4-3-3 formation, with just the one defensive midfielder in Edson Álvarez, allowing Davy Klaassen and Ryan Gravenberch to have more of an attacking influence on the game. Antony and David Neres occupied the wide areas, with Dusan Tadić as the striker. Of course, there was no Seb Haller due to the error that saw him left out of Ajax’s Europa League squad.