Massimiliano Allegri proves his worth to Juventus in Champions League victory

Date: 16th September 2015 at 6:21pm
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Juventus came from a goal down to overcome Manchester City 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday night, largely down to coach Massimiliano Allegri’s tactical genius and brilliant drilling of his players.

Alvaro Morata Juve

The Bianconeri have suffered a poor start to the new Serie A season, claiming just one point from a possible nine, but those problems seemed to be on another planet during the game against City.

On paper, it appeared the Italians lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, but in reality this was more fluid and asymmetric. The first 45 minutes played in their favour, despite the possession statistics perhaps suggesting otherwise.

The game was being played at a slow pace, which suited Juventus’s playing style; the midfield threat of David Silva was forced to play deep in his own half while Giorgio Chiellini made sure Gianluigi Buffon was rarely threatened in the Italian goal. Even when the veteran goalkeeper was called upon, he was almost impermeable.

The preparation in the build up had paid off and the organised shape of the Juventus side made it difficult for their opponents to break through, which was evident as the Citizens only breached the Juve defence once in the first half.

Even when the Premier League side opened the scoring, Chiellini’s defending cannot be questioned, as he was blatantly fouled by Vincent Kompany. Nevertheless, the goal stood and Juventus had work to do.

Kompany Manchester City Juventus

The deadlock was broken at a time when the game’s pace increased and Manuel Pellegrini’s men were just beginning to turn the screw.

For the next 10 minutes, the football was being played with dangerous speed and the team in blue were beginning to settle down and find their rhythm.

Fortunately for the Old Lady – thanks to a wonderful Paul Pogba pass, which was met by Mario Mandzukic in front of goal – they snatched an equaliser.

The game’s dynamic changed and slowed down, turning once more in favour of Juve.

Alvaro Morata made sure that three points returned with him and the squad to Turin with a well-executed shot.

Morata goal Juventus Manchester City

With ten minutes to go, Allegri decided to shut up shop, as City’s introduction of Sergio Aguero was met by the Bianconeri’s of Andrea Barzagli.

This made any remaining efforts left in Pellegrini’s locker redundant, as the Italian backline was now impenetrable.

Allegri was determined to hold on to the lead they had earned, and refused to take any chances.

Barzagli’s inclusion converted the formation to a more defensive 5-3-2, with the back-line fully covering the whole width of the pitch.

Manchester City are a huge danger going forward, their dominance in the Premier League shows this, but setting up a solid back five makes their biggest weapon powerless.

Allegri studied the English side and found out how they could be weakened, and he played his cards perfectly.

Thanks to this, Juventus came out as 2-1 winners and won the toughest task they are likely to face in their Champions League group.

Showing these positives against a side of Manchester City’s calibre gives the Bianconeri a huge boost of confidence as they return to Serie A action at the weekend.

They travel to Genoa on Sunday afternoon, where they will aim to finally kickstart their 2015-16 Serie A season after a rollercoaster first few weeks.

With this result, they are now off the mark in terms of wins this season, and you would now expect them to put together a string of positive results as they look to defend their title.

 

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