Fortress Juventus: How Thiago Motta Tactics Built An Unbeatable Defensive Wall

After seven games in the 2024/25 Serie A season, Juventus have established themselves as early contenders, largely thanks to their remarkable defensive record.

New manager Thiago Motta has tweaked things slightly for Juve, including a formation change, but he’s also leaned into their strong defensive foundation—they had the second-best defensive record in the league last season.

At the time of writing, Motta’s side are yet to concede from open play in the Serie A this term, conceding just once from the spot in their 1-1 draw with Cagliari.

In this tactical analysis, we will examine Juventuss defensive tactics so far in 2024/25, providing insight into Motta’s defensive setup.

Juventus Counterpress

Under Motta, we’ve seen Juve play a possession-based system that aims to involve less defensive work – the opponents find it harder to score if they can’t get the ball from Juve.

At the time of writing, Juves average ball loss per 90 is 70.19, the lowest in Serie A after seven games; we know that Juve pride themselves on making possession count, but they also want to give the opposition as little chance on the ball as possible, and Motta’s tactics seem to be achieving that.

With that comes a low engagement in general when it comes to defensive duels and interceptions, but Juventus like to be proactive in those rare moments when they do lose possession.

Figure 1 shows just how proactive Motta’s side is during transitions.

They look to instantly suffocate the opposition and limit their chances of executing a counterattack.

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