Even more so than goals in football, the battle starts and ends in midfield; something the Bianconeri emphatically proved against a hapless Rossoneri side.
“Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.”
This old proverb could easily be amended to apply to football by saying: “tell me who your midfielders are and I will tell you what kind of team you are.”
When Juventus welcomed AC Milan to the Juventus stadium on Saturday night, the Bianconeri brushed the Rossoneri aside 3–1 in a game they barely needed to stretch for.
The result was practically a given as soon as the lineups were announced though. AC Milan boldly fielded Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari and Andrea Poli against Juventus. A bold decision it was indeed, and one which back-fired in spectacular fashion on the night.
Juventus’ midfield boasted of the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal. The Bianconeri victory was not a issue of tactics however, or of the extra man in midfield getting the better of the three AC Milan had. The key difference was simply one of quality.
In a way the difference between the Bianconeri and Rossoneri midfields was an excellent reflection of just how far Juventus have moved on from their Milanese counterparts.
It is indeed ironic that the symbol of midfield excellence had made the switch from the stadio Giuseppe Meazza to Turin back in 2011. Since his arrival, Pirlo has been the architect of Juventus’ three successive Scudetti. On Saturday night, he barely had to get out of first gear and conducted play from a La-Z-Boy recliner rather than his usual armchair.
Arturo Vidal, operating further up the field as a trequartista (playmaker), harassed Essien and Muntari, forcing them to overturn possession and sliced through them on the counter-attack. Marchisio made himself the extra man in the offensive and defensive phases of play, whichever his team needed him most in.
As for Pogba, he exploited well his skill and power, running at AC Milan whenever he got the opportunity to. Without having been decisive on the night, he still put in a dominating performance. The Frenchman powered through the leaden-footed Rossoneri midfield and bullied AC Milan’s Ghanian duo, subjugating both to his will.
Midfield — and not defence, as most often pontificate — is the foundation of any great team. The middle of the park is from where Juventus have built their success, and it remains the margin by which they have kept all their challengers at bay.
In fact, it comes as no surprise that Roma – whose midfield is the only one in Serie A able to go toe-to-toe with the Bianconeri’s — have been the only serious challengers to Juventus’ hegemony in recent seasons.
In the 2011-12 season, when AC Milan relinquished their Scudetto crown to Juventus, their midfield had already become orphan of a ball-playing/creative midfielder (Clarence Seedorf and Alberto Aquilani played sparingly) and was mostly comprised of Mark Van Bommel, Antonio Nocerino, and Kevin Prince Boateng.
The most alarming part is that this was only a mere three years ago, within which Juventus have moved what almost feels like three lightyear ahead of the team they once called their rivals.
Follow Ogo Sylla on Twitter at: @RossonerOgo_3
