Juventus Edges Out AC Milan As Conte’s Subs Prove To Be Decisive

By Somnath Sengupta
11 years Ago

Juventus picked up three important points against a largely weakened AC Milan side in Turin.

Juventus defeated AC Milan in the highest profile Serie A match of last weekend. The match was played under a wet weather and both teams matched the weather with their sloppy play ai??i?? this was very much an encounter which validated all the negative stereotypes of drabness often aimed at Serie A. There were five goals scored in this match, but most of them were either fortunate and directly because of individual mistakes, rather than innovative play.

Tactics

Juventus

As expected, Juventus lined-up in the tried, tested and now often maligned 3-5-2 formation. Simone Padoin replaced Stefan Lichtsteiner and it was clear from the outset that Juventus would have very little width going forward. Padoin mostly stayed deep while Asamoah on the opposite wing cut back multiple times, rather than providing width. Claudio Marchisioai??i??s quiet but efficient presence meant that the Ghanaian had additional defensive cover on the left side, which meant Asamoah was more daring in this match than previous games and even forced couple of good saves off Abbiati.

Marchisio linked up with Andrea Pirlo well as the latter played well in patches against his old teams. Pirlo was at times robbed off possession easily, thanks to the slippery ground, but did manage to dictate pace of the game from deep midfield. Arturo Vidal on the other hand, had a shocker of a bad game and completely failed to generate his box to box runs which have often resulted in goals in past one and half seasons.

AC Milan

The Rossoneri have been decimated by injuries recently but retained the 4-3-1-2 formation with Ricardo Montolivo playing behind Alessandro Matri and Robinho. Just like Juventus, Milan barely had enough width, which effectively made the game bogged down in central midfield and a cagey affair. Allegri had very little options in his hand and had to settle for three defensive minded midfielders in his ai???3ai???, which often choked out service to the frontmen.

Alessandro Matriai??i??s biggest strength has always been his positioning and how he made run into vacant channels between defenders. He hasnai??i??t settled down well at San Siro and his poor recent form was compounded by the fact that he often came up against the imperious Andrea Barzagli, who knows the former Cagliari strikerai??i??s style well and prevented his off the ball movement. Lack of link-up play with central midfield and strikers often left Montolivo squeezed out by Juventus midfield and he had very little influence on the game.

The Match

Milanai??i??s early goal, in a strange way, helped Juventus as the latter has played well after conceding goals in past one and half month. After Milanai??i??s goal Juventus played some of their best football this season in search of an equalizer. Milan defence and their central midfield was pushed back deeper and deeper due to Juveai??i??s early onslaught and never really came out for rest of the match. Juve too took their foot off the pedal after drawing level, making rest of the first half a forgettable encounter.

Carlos Tevez looked lively in first half, often drawing fouls and finding enough space to race past Milan central defence. To counter Tevez Milan full-backs, helped by Juveai??i??s lack of width, tucked in giving the Argentine less space. In early parts of second half both Tevez and Quagliarella were forced to play with their backs toward to goal due to this tactic and the chances were few and far between. With Marchisio and Pirlo playing deeper and Vidal having a poor game Juventus needed additional offensive spark upfront. Antonio Conte needed to shake things up and he did.

Conte Gets his subs right

Conteai??i??s first change was to replace Simone Padoin with Paul Pogba. With Pogbaai??i??s introduction, it seemed as if Juve would switch to a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-3-3 formation as they did in last few minutes against Galatasaray in mid-week. Instead, Pogba kept to the right-flank, operating as a much more offensive right-wing back than the man he replaced. This was a calculated gamble as the Frenchman brought in more flair at the risk of less defensive cover.

Pogbaai??i??s introduction opened up the match for Juve. Pogba found ample space on the flanks with Milan full-backs playing more centrally, and cut back to provide additional support in attack. Kevin Constant had to drift out to his starting position in order to stop Pogbaai??i??s runs and this in turn created gaps in and around Milan penalty box. Around this time Conte played his second card, introducing Sebastien Giovinco instead of the misfiring Quagliarella. His intention was to exploit the gaps in Milan defence using the diminutive strikerai??i??s quick and sudden burst of space. Few seconds after his introduction Giovinco did justice to his coachai??i??s faith, dribbling past two Milan defenders to put Juve ahead in what easily was the best piece of play in this match.

Few minutes later Mexes was sent off and AC Milanai??i??s game was more or less over when Giorgio Chiellini grabbed Juventusai??i?? third goal when he directed the ball into net after Pirloai??i??s free-kick came off the frame. Milan did grab a goal late in the match after a mistake from Pogba and even came close to scoring a third in dying minutes, but Juventus was never in great danger in missing out on all three points after Chielliniai??i??s goal. This was hardly a vintage performance from Conteai??i??s team but they were helped by a largely weakened Milan side.

Categories: AC Milan, Features, Juventus
Tags: AC Milan Juventus

Juventus picked up three important points against a largely weakened AC Milan side in Turin.

Tactics

The Match

Conte Gets his subs right

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