Juventus 3-2 Milan: Tactical Analysis

AC Milan: Need to rise up

Crowded Midfield

The game was quite scrappy, and this was due in no small part to the crowded midfield. Milan had 4 players in a central area, and Juventus had 3. Add to that the fact that Bonucci was pushing forward occasionally to mark Robinho. Milan wanted it to play out this way as it would choke the Juventus play, who like to spread it wide to stretch the game. They showed the Juve wingbacks inside almost all the time, to keep the play narrow. 42% of the Juventus attacks ended up coming through the middle. This was why the teams struggled to make any meaningful play from the middle.

Another thing it resulted in was a great involvement from the defenders in the attacking parts of the game. The Juventus back 3 had 176 touches during the game, and the Milan back 4 a massive 320. Going forward as well, they were quite important, with Constant picking up an assist, and Chiellini scoring, aside from a few long range efforts. The fact that defenders had to attack may also explain the lack of coherent attacking play.

Milan Switches

With the midfield very crowded in the middle, Milan needed to find an alternative avenue of attack. The wing backs, as we know well, are very capable of doing so. Both Abate and Constant are well suited to going forward. Therefore, Milan tried a tactic to get their wing-backs into space, and attacking. The whole of the started moving onto one side, and a few short passes were played in this region of the field. The purpose was to attract the Juventus midfield to the ball, and create space on the opposite wing for the full back to move into. Once this movement was achieved, one of the midfielders, generally Riccardo Montolivo, sprayed a long cross-field pass to release the full back, whose job was then to cross deep for the players who had gathered on the other side of the pitch. Only 28% of their attacks went through the middle, and this, along with long balls over the top, was their solution to counter the midfield crowd.

Pogba’s Wing Play

With the crowd in the centre, Conte decided that he had to do something about the wings, which were quite inactive for Juventus. So, around the 50th minute, the ineffective Padoin was withdrawn, and Paul Pogba came on to play on the wing. The other subtle change that Conte made on the right side was to bring Vidal a little bit wider. The idea was to isolate Constant by giving him a player going just inside him, and outside him. It created space for Pogba, and the Frenchman managed to dominate the right wing. This caused Milan a few problems, though it didn’t result in a goal. This also cut off a lot of the attacking threat that Milan had been posing from the wings, as Pogba and Vidal kept Constant busy enough for him to hang back most of the time.

Conclusion

In a game that was strewn with individual errors across the park, Juventus did well to take 3 points in a 3-2 victory. Milan worked hard, but their negative tactics, and lack of effective attacking options were exposed by the quality that a very fit and strong Juventus side eventually showed.