With the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo during the summer, Juventus were under the spotlight and one of the obvious favorite for the Champions League. They reached the final twice since 2015, losing to Real Madrid in 2017 and being eliminated in the quarter final in 2018 by Real Madrid and Ronaldo again. Having their nemesis now in their squad was expected to bring Juventus with that little extra they needed to finally win the European trophy for the first time since 1996. In addition to the five times Ballon d’Or winner, the Italian champions brought in Cancelo, Can and Bonucci back after a season in Milan.
Juventus have already secured their eighth Serie A trophy in a row, being 16 points clear from Napoli with 3 games left to play. And unlike last season, they were never in danger in the league, leading the table since the 2nd match day and only losing their first game in March. However, they have failed to win the Italian Cup for the fifth time in a row, and more disappointing, they have lost in the Champions League’s quarter finals against Ajax Amsterdam. If the Dutch side have proven being a top team this season, the fact remained that losing at this stage was seen as a failure by most supporters and pundits.
Squad and formation
Juventus started the season with a strong squad of 23 players. However, they had only 5 central midfielders, which was anticipated as a potential problem should Massimiliano Allegri opt for a 4-3-3 formation. But the Italian manager has demonstrated in the past his versatility, and is seen as one who can work with any group at his disposal.
Coming up with a typical starting eleven for the season is challenging with Allegri as he is an adept of heavy squad rotation. Based on minutes played though, the starting eleven would be:
Overall this season, this eleven has been lined up 14 times. As a comparison, Liverpool starting eleven has appeared 23 times, Barcelona’s one 30 times.
Allegri is also very flexible in terms of formation. If he has used 4-3-3 more often this season, 19 times between Serie A and Champions League, he has also used 4-4-2 twelve times. When necessary, he will also set up a back three, although it will be more situational than tactical. In reality though, Allegri has some key principles regardless of its formation.
A team known for its defensive strength
Under Allegri, Juventus has almost always defended in a 4-4-2 shape when out of possession, whether the team is lined up with a back four or three. It can sometimes vary with a 4-4-1-1 although this is very similar.
4-4-2 remains probably the most commonly used defensive shape, mainly for its balance and compactness. From a coach perspective, it is also an easier system to put in place since all players at this level would have played 4-4-2 already in their careers.
Allegri is most certainly a coach who bases his approach from a defensive point of view. He has himself stated in interviews that for him, the main role of a manager was to lay the defensive structure of the team. He has a few principles he had implemented over the years at Juventus.
In terms of pressing, Allegri would usually opt for a medium block and he’s quite adaptable with the type of marking. He would typically use a zonal marking, but will also put in place man marking against some opponents, as he did against Napoli in September (images below).
Pjanic man marking Hamsik 
Chiellini man marking Insigne
When Juventus step up to press higher, they would be man-oriented as below against Manchester United in the Champions League’s group stage. On that day, Juventus started the match in a 4-4-2 formation with Dybala and Ronaldo up front. Here we can see Pjanic stepping up to cut De Gea’s short passing option.
Allegri wants his team to stay very compact when defending in its own half. Therefore, Juventus’ pressing when in a medium block would not be particularly aggressive to maintain its positioning. The first and second line of pressing’s objectives are to first try to force the opponent to play back and then force them wide. On the below image, we can see both principles in place against Napoli, Juventus defending in a very compact shape its defensive third, with 9 field players and leaving only Ronaldo with no defensive duties.
To defend the wide areas, Juventus would typically get their full backs to push up and press the winger, with one of the central midfield dropping in the half space to cover.
Juventus have been very defensively this season, conceding only 25 goals in Serie A so far, and 9 in the Champions League, the 5th team with the least goals conceded per game (0.9)
A team awaited for its striking force
With the signing of Ronaldo, Juventus got itself the best goal scorer in Champions League history. Alongside Dybala, Mandzukic, Douglas Costa and Bernardeschi, the old lady was expected to entertain and be among the highest scoring teams in Europe this season. In the end they are currently the second team with the most goals scored in Serie A behind Atalanta, and only the 13th team in UCL with an average of goals scored per game of 1.4, behind the likes of Porto, Hoffenheim and Lyon, for a total of 14 goals in 10 games played. This is exactly the same total as the previous season for the same number of games played.
Allegri prone a very flexible attacking system and aim at giving as much freedom as possible to his players in the possession phase. It is therefore difficult to define an attacking shape for his team. However, there are certain patterns we can highlight.
Building up from the back
Sold in the summer 2017 to AC Milan, Bonucci was brought back in the 2018 summer window. Rumors have said that him and Allegri had some relationship issues, and that during the half time of the lost UCL final in 2017, the Italian center back had words with other players and his manager, leading to his departure few weeks later. As we know though, there are no hard feelings in football if it can bring some good results, and Juventus decided to get their ball-playing defender back. The team appeared to suffer in the build up last season without Bonucci then, but also Dani Alves who although injured a good part of the 2016/17 season, played a major role in Juve’s european campaign. The following season, the build up would almost entirely rely on Pjanic, making it easier for the other teams to counter Allegri’s team, and forcing Dybala to drop deeper in many occasions to support his teammate. With Bonucci back, Pjanic could expect to have some help in the first third when playing out from the back, and Dybala could play higher on the pitch.
Juventus would vary between a back two or three in the build up phase, depending on whether the opponent press with one or two players. The typical structure when moving to a back three would be Chiellini on the left, Pjanic in the middle and Bonucci on the right. The idea behind having Bonucci on the left rather than in the middle is that he could use this position to play diagonal long balls with a better angle than from the middle of the pitch.
Pjanic’s role in the build up remains essential. When he arrived at Juventus from Roma, he was playing mostly as a center midfield or an attacking midfield. Allegri decided to reposition him in front of the defense, in a similar role than Pirlo was playing. When Juventus switched to a 4-2-3-1 in January 2017, Pjanic played as a center midfield again alongside Khedira. Since last season though, he is back into this regista role. His capacity to find pockets to receive from his defenders and his passing technique are key to initiate Juventus’ attacking phases. He has completed 92.3% of his passes this season in Serie A, the fifth highest rate in the league. While Pjanic’s role is to maintain possession and try to progress through the thirds, Bonnuci would use long balls more often, primarily targeting Mandzukic or Ronaldo. Together they complete themselves well.
Carte blanche to the attacking players
As mentioned earlier, Allegri wants to give his talented players as much freedom as possible. For him, systems are too predictable for the opposition, and therefore individual talent is the best weapon to score goals. The Italian manager is a self proclaimed basketball follower. And he explained in interviews that in basketball, you have a limited amount of time to shoot and try to score. So teams have prepared plays to deploy their attacks, but once the clock is coming to its end, we pass the ball to the best player and expect him to make things happen. There is no limited time to score in football, but for Allegri the idea is the same. Create space and time for your best players to express their talent and score.
Allegri in 2014
If you have Messi in your team, you almost start the game 2-0 up, same with Ronaldo
As a result, Ronaldo is free up front and has very limited defensive work to do. Dybala and Mandzukic are the other two players the most used to form the attacking three line. Mandzukic plays the role of the anchor in the center of the attack. He remains mostly in a central position, pinning the two center backs. His physicality allows the team to play long balls when necessary with good results. In the 18 yards box, his quality in the air is a major strength as well. Lastly, his work rate complete Ronaldo very well. If the Portuguese is not famous for his defensive work, the Croatian is a great first defender. Dybala on his end had a more difficult season. Scoring only 10 goals so far, three of them in a same game against Young Boys in UCL group stage, he had limited impact compared to previous seasons. His positioning on the right wing doesn’t seem to suit him very well. A main reason is that the defensive work is higher on the wing, therefore the Argentine is using lots of his energy in defensive tasks. Besides, he is in a further position to the goal than he was when playing second striker behind Higuain. If his technical ability makes no doubt, he is not an actual dribbler who will take one two or three players to make his own way to the goal. He has very good technique in tight spaces and despite his stature, his shielding of the ball is excellent. But he is no Leo Messi unlike what was said few years ago, and this wide position doesn’t fit his strengths.
Does too much freedom actually restrain individuals?
Let’s take a simple example to illustrate this idea. You are coaching an under 9 team. When kids arrive at training, they always ask you “what do we do?”. A simple answer could be “whatever you feel like”. Now, if you have ever tried that, you will know it doesn’t work. Although it sounds very cool to let the kids do whatever they want, the reality is that most of the time, at least at football, they don’t know what to do. Their most common reaction to “whatever you feel like” will be to take a football and shoot to the goal, with or without a goalkeeper.
Now, the same situation, but you tell the kids “play Wembley”. They will start playing immediately with much more intensity, and will actually benefit that way more. So by giving them some sort of constraint, I actually helped them to be creative and use their individual abilities.
Obviously, this is by far simpler than managing professional football players, but the idea remains the same. By telling his player “do whatever you want when we have the ball”, Allegri might actually restrain their creativity and impact on the game. Dybala is probably the best example.
So how does this lack of attacking structure materialized on the pitch?
It’s important to highlight that Juventus still has some structure in possession. However, the more they progress on the pitch, the less they apply any specific system. The below image summarize the different phases of possession, from the build up to the finishing.
We have discussed earlier the build up phase. Clear patterns can be found, such as the role of Pjanic to organize the build up, but also the use of a double pivot to progress to the second phase. Overall, Juve are comfortable in their build up.
Juventus have also been good in the finishing phase. With a conversion rate of 16.8% in Serie A, they are the second most efficient team in the league. In UCL, their rate lower down to 12.2%, ranking them only as the 23rd most efficient team in the tournament. However, it is difficult to make any conclusion on the UCL since they have only played 10 games, which is quite a restricted sample. For example, in the second leg of the group stage against Manchester United, their conversion rate was down to 4% in a game they largely dominated before losing 1-2 after conceding two goals on set pieces. Their Serie A rate seems therefore much more reliable, and as said, it is a good conversion rate so no major issue here. If there was one thing to highlight though, it would be the Ronaldo-dependence when it comes to scoring goals. With 28 goals so far this season, the Portuguese is by far the best goal scorer in the team, Dybala being second with 10 goals.
Where Juventus seem to have the suffer the most the lack of structure is in the second and third phase of possession. Since Juventus aims to build from the back, the second phase is crucial as it will be the moment when the team needs to disorganize the opposition to open up gaps to penetrate and progress towards the goal.
The below sequence highlights some of the recurring issues Juventus had this season:
Lack of patience
Bonucci is in possession at the back. Morata is screening to block a pass to Pjanic but leaves the left wing open. Bentancur is free with space in front of him. However, Bonucci decides to play a longer pass to Dybala, skipping the possession phase and putting Dybala in a difficult situation against four Atletico players. A better option for Bonucci here would have been to maintain possession by playing to Bentancur and wait for a better forward passing option. Which brings us to a second issue.
Lack of space and time
As good as Dybala is on the ball, he has very little chance to beat 4 players on his own. It would have been an interesting situation for Juventus if the Atletico players were defending further from the Argentine, giving him more space and time on the ball. The team in possession will always be looking at either creating overloads in an area of the pitch, or at least create 1v1 situations for their best dribblers. Here, if Dybala has four players around him, it means that Atletico must be under loaded in another area of the pitch. We can’t see on the above picture, but Ronaldo is on the left touchline. With Sandro, Matuidi and Mandzukic, Juventus therefore have a 4v2 situation against the right back and right midfield. However, Dybala has too much pressure around him to be be able to make a switch. Should have Bonucci switched the play himself? Probably not. Given the distance between him and Sandro, it is doubtful that the switch would have created any advantadge for Juve, the Atletico block would have had time to travel with the ball too easily.
Distances between the players
An important point here is the distance between Dybala and his closest teammates. De Sciglio on the right wing is the closest, but he is not accessible for Dybala given his body shape to receive the ball and the positioning of Lemar. Pjanic in the center of the pitch is not an option either as he is closed down within a triangle created by Atletico to neutralize him. Bentancur and Matuidi, the other two midfielders, are them too far from Dybala. This situation very much shed light on the structural issues Juventus have had this season. The positioning in possession seems to be too inaccurate, and although it does indeed achieve what Allegri is looking for, i.e. freedom for the attacking players, it also create disorganization within his team. The image below shows what a positional organization could look like to achieve safer possession and penetration. With De Sciglio, Dybala, Mandzukic and Ronaldo pushing up, they would create a 4v4, forcing an Atletico midfielder to drop back. Bonucci, Matuidi, Bentancur and Pjanic could create an overload on the right against Morata and Saul. If Rodrigo shifts over to the left to cover Saul, he will now leave Koke and Juanfran against Sandro, Ronaldo and Mandzukic. Another issue with Juventus initial positioning here is the vulnerability to counter-attacks in the defensive transition. Indeed, with so much space between the players, it is fairly easy for the opposition to find a quick forward pass in the transition, which is actually what happened when Dybala lost the ball. Shorter distances woul give Juventus a more solid block to counter-press or at least contain a counter-attack. Lastly, this suggested shape would allow Pjanic to be higher on the pitch. In games like this one, against a team with a very compact block like Atletico, it is important to have the most technical players in advanced areas to be able to create gaps and find dangerous vertical passes.
Outlook for next season
For many other clubs, a league title would be synonym of a successful season. Not in Turin. After eight Serie A titles in a row, the tifosi are naturally expecting something more, the Champions League.
After losing in the quarter finals again, Allegri has been heavily criticized in Italy, bothby the fans and the pundits, for his ‘simplistic’ vision of the role of the manager, and although he sticks to his philosophy in front of the cameras, we can think that he might consider a slight adjustment, should he still be at Juventus next season. Without suddenly turning into a positional play aficionado, Allegri could explore some other options. The old lady seems to have all the qualities of a deadly counter-attacking team for example: a solid defense, very quick players like Sandro, Cancelo, Costa, Ronaldo and Cuadrado. Dybala could also be re-positioned behind the striker where he had his best season so far in 2016/17. Juventus has also already signed Ramsey from Arsenal. His ability to run forward into spaces could be very efficient in this set up. Overall, the Italian side has the squad to play in any style really, but counter-attacking seems to be the best compromise between the players’ strengths and their manager’s philosophy, requiring a solid defensive structure and allowing the forward players to improvise when in possession.
