Juventus 4-1 Lazio: Tactical Analysis

It was Juventus’ first home game of the season in the Serie A, with Lazio as their opponents. The hosts had emerged victorious a few weeks earlier when the two sides met in the Italian Super Cup.

While the score line does suggest a sense of domination, the game itself was a well-fought affair; it was a perfect example of how much Italian football has developed since its ‘boring football’ tag and it was anything but a drab affair.

Quick movement, slick passing, excellent vision, were all witnessed at this fixture; a true modern-day Serie A battle. The final score of Juventus 4-1 Lazio was, however, not necessarily a true representation of the way the match went on.

Juventus’ width and spare man

Lazio used a cautious approach, fearing the dominance of a talented Juventus midfield. While this approach did dampen the effect of the midfield trio to a certain extent, Juventus found a different avenue (as they have in the past) by utilising the width provided by Kwadwo Asamoah and Stephan Lichtsteiner.

Lazio often failed to have a man over to cover the wide areas, allowing the likes of Asamoah to move into crucial areas of the pitch. The home side almost always had a spare man over. To compensate for this advantage, Lazio starting taking note of the wide full-backs.

This took one man out of the tight Lazio defence, allowing the central midfielders (Arturo Vidal usually) to run through on goal, unmarked. The first two Juventus goals were created as a result of Vidal taking advantage of the gap in Lazio’s defence. Both goals represented this smooth system, and were works of class.

The essence of Juventus’ approach is their use of the full-backs; the two on either side are extremely hard-working individuals who more often than not have an unmarked run on goal. As soon as Juventus take possession in their own half, the two are seen advancing forward. They waste no time in spreading the play and increasing the pitch/playing area, making it increasingly difficult for the opposition to cover the field.

Adopting beautiful football

Juventus have been at the pinnacle of Italian football for the past few seasons, and we’ve seen gradual improvement in their overall play as the season has progressed. But the game against Lazio was a testament to how far Antonio Conte has brought this side.

Juventus now have a clear identity, one that is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. Creativity erupts through the core of the side, and all Juventus players are now able to play at the same wavelength in that regard.

Paul Pogba is the best example of how this identity has influenced the Juventus contingent. Pogba has slowly developed into a quality midfielder, and he showed his class against Lazio. His set-up for Juve and Vidal’s first goal was immensely gratifying. Utilising the spare man approach explained above, Pogba gave the deftest of flicks to chip Vidal through on goal, a thing of sheer beauty. Vidal’s touch and finish was nothing short of class either.

Two of the other Juventus goals were made directly from the back with Leonardo Bonucci showcasing his creative ability as well (as shown above). Vidal made his run through, again taking advantage of the spare man/wide man tactic. The Italian defender spotted his run from the back and played a pin-point ball through and the Chilean wasn’t going to let that chance pass.

Soon after the restart, another clever run (and wonderful coordination) between the Juve strike partnership of Carlos Tevez and Mirko Vucinic, saw Bonucci attempt another defence splitting long ball, and again there was only one end result.

This quick passing, expert movement and how it has all come together just tells us how far this side have come and how far they can still go.

Carlos Tevez celebrates victory at the end of the Serie A match between Juventus and SS Lazio at Juventus Arena on August 31, 2013 in Turin, Italy. (Getty Images)

Solid defence

Let’s not take anything away from Lazio either. The score line is a bit flattering to the home side, but Lazio did put their own in. The difference between the two sides was the clinical character of Juventus; they knew how to take their chances.

But Italian sides are known for having solid defences; Juventus and Lazio showed this on the night. The game witnessed just below 60 tackles, which is above the regular average. The likes of Vidal, Asamoah, Giorgio Chiellini, Pogba, Lorik Cana and Lucas Biglia all had more than five tackles each, an example of the physicality of the game.

Lazio made the game tight from the start, attempting to narrow the playing field in the middle of the park. There were three men quickly to position themselves around the Juve man in possession, attempting to force him off the ball.

Juventus did overcome this with their use of the width, but it did reduce their general influence in midfield. Juventus on the other hand were no less defensively solid. As Juventus continued to control the tempo of the game, Lazio tried to calm things down and take control when in possession.

This resulted in Lazio slowing the game down and opting to keep possession in their defensive third; this could also have been due to lack of personnel in the attacking third. But Juventus weren’t going to hang around and invite Lazio forward, this isn’t 2002 Italian football.

The Juventus attackers, along with the attack-minded Vidal constantly pressed the opposition, forcing them to make quicker passes. While this tactic favoured Juventus, for a neutral it livened up the game as we forcibly saw Lazio also adopt a smoother, slick game.

Hernanes made 3 interceptions in dangerous positions in Juventus’ half. He, along with Antonio Candreva, looked the most threatening Lazio players. Candreva in fact, finished off with the most shots, most on target and he created the most number of opportunities as well.

Carlos Tevez

The Argentine has appeared in three games for the Old Lady, and has got himself on the score sheet in each and every game. Not only his record, but the smoothness and fluidity with which he has transcended into the Juventus side is immense. He has fit the system, with ease, and has developed a good understanding with his midfielders and fellow attacker.

We need to understand here that Tevez isn’t forming a traditional two man strike partnership. He loves to drop behind the striker (Vucinic in this case), and play a more ‘second striker’ role. Often he found himself playing alongside Vidal who opted to advance forward.

As he showed against Lazio, Tevez loves to take the ball and use his strength to run at defenders. Nothing fancy, no unnecessary footwork, or over the top skills, just a plain and simple dash towards the opposition.

This made Juventus almost play in zones with three distinct zones ahead of the deep midfield duo of Andrea Pirlo and Pogba. Vidal ahead of him, Tevez further advanced and Vucinic in the final zone.

Tevez had an incredible understanding with Vucinic against Lazio, which was evident for the thrid and fourth goals.