Andrea Pirlo and Stefano Pioli came head-to-head for the first time in a match that could potentially decide the fate of the title race. In a game that finally ended Milan’s 15 game unbeaten run, Juventus ran rampant and dismantled Pioli’s side.

***Figure 1 - Starting Line-ups (via Whoscored.com)***

Juventus Structure

Juventus would attack in 3-5-2 while defending in a 4-4-2, Frabrotta’s movement from LB -> LWB would allow Juventus to overload the left, and with Chiesa hugging the touchline up until he got into the final third which allowed him the freedom to roam into dangerous goalscoring areas

Milan Structure

Milan would defence in a either a 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1, or even 4-5-1 depending on the movement of Calhanoglu, in attack Hernandez would overlap on the left allowing Hauge to drift inside, Castillejo would hold the width on the right as Dalot was not given the same freedom as Hernandez to venture into the final third. Instead, Dalot would play more like an auxiliary third midfielder creating a staggered 2-3-5 shape for Milan.

Juventus First Phase

Juventus started the game set up with a 2-3 structure in the build-up with the back 5 consisting of Bonucci, De Ligt, Danilo, Bentancur and Frabotta. Milan counteracted this with using somewhat of a man to man marking system with Leao shifting from marking the RCB to GK depending on the position of the ball. As a result, the Juventus defence was forced to play the long ball into midfield multiple times.

However, smart movement from the Juventus midfielders such as Ramsey in this screenshot was able to exploit one of the main flaws of man for man marking, individual errors

*3 - Calabria loses Ramsey and the passing angle to Frabotta opens*

However, relying on individual mistakes or individual brilliance is not sustainable and in the first half Juventus was consistently turning the ball over in their own third until they started to use clever rotations to find passing options in space.

***4- Bonucci receives with no clear passing options aside from Szczesny***

***5- Bentancur notices this and begins to make the run into the space vacated by Bonucci***

***6- Bentancur can now receive the ball in enough space to turn and play short to Rabiot, Danilo or just play it long to the forwards***

Juventus Second Phase

As Juventus would shift from the 4-4-2 to the 3-5-2, the back three (Danilo, Bonucci, De Ligt) and the DM (Bentancur) were able to recycle possession comfortably as they had central superiority. With Frabotta and Chiesa hugging the touchline, Juventus were able to stretch the pitch as much as possible

***7 - Milan's man for man system is undone by a switch of play***

So, when Chiesa receives the ball out on the right, he can either take on Theo Hernandez in a 1v1 situation or hold the ball up and wait for Dybala and Rabiot to show for the ball to combine with them and fashion an opening in the final third.

***8- Chiesa waits for Dybala to arrive to combine with him***

The 3-5-2 allowed the 8’s (Rabiot and Ramsey) to pull wide and offer themselves as passing options to the wide CB’s (Danilo and De Ligt), this allowed the midfielders to receive the ball beyond the first line of pressure and away from Milan’s DM’s (Kessie and Calabria)

***9- Danilo receives the ball under pressure from Hauge with Rabiot pulling wide and offering himself as an option***

***10- Rabiot receives the ball in stride with enough space between him and Kessie***

Juventus Final Third

The 3-5-2 allowed Juventus to occupy at least 4 if not 5 of the channels consistently, Milan would struggle to cope as defending in a 4-4-2 meant they could only cover 4 of those channels and as a result, they were susceptible to leaving a free man on either touchline.

***11 - Structure of Juventus' attack***

The front 5 would consist of Frabotta, Ronaldo, Dybala, Chiesa and one of Ramsey or Rabiot. Juventus would utilise 1-2’s for the WB to come inside or take on the opposing FB to fashion an opportunity for a cross at the by-line

***12 - Juventus attacking the 5 channels***

At times Danilo would venture forward from CB to receive in the space vacated by Chiesa, this would give him the option to cross under minimal pressure or play Chiesa in behind for a cutback

***13 - Danilo acting as the spare man***

Milan First Phase

Milan would set up with their two CB’s (Kjaer and Romagnoli) splitting wide and one of their DM’s (usually Kessie) to invite the Juventus press, and then decide to play long to try and challenge for the second ball.

***14 - Kessie shows for the ball which invite's Juventus' press***

Since the middle of the pitch is now vacated, Milan can exploit the space by challenging for the second ball and quickly transitioning into a counter.

***15 - Donnarumma plays long to Leao who can now either lay it off to Hauge or Hernandez***

Milan Second Phase

Milan relies on the movement of Calhanoglu to progress the ball, he will travel across the pitch to offer himself as a passing option and allow Milan to create wide overloads in the second phase

***16- Calhanoglu drifting to the left***

Although Calhanoglu was more biased to the left, he was still able to come short towards the right to create overloads to progress the ball.

***17- Calhanoglu offering himself as an option for passing combinations***

Milan Final Third

However, Calhanoglu’s drifting wide constantly is what hurt Milan most in the final third. Juventus’ 4-4-2 defensive shape meant that the wide areas were comfortably covered. Furthermore, the lack of a central presence in and around the area lead to a minimised threat to create big chances.

***18- Calhanoglu drifting wide to combine with Hauge and Hernandez***

Dalot’s movement was also important, while he was less adventurous than Hernandez in breaking into the final third, he offered himself as a passing option by moving into the midfield three. Dalot moving inside would occasionally attract the attention of Ramsey at LM, leaving Castillejo in a potential 1v1 with Frabotta. However, Milan were too slow in switching the play in the following sequence allowed Juventus to adjust and defend Castillejo with Ramsey and Frabotta.

***19- Dalot moving inside opened up the right flank for Castillejo to go 1v1 against Frabotta***

***20- Milan moved the ball too slowly allowed Juventus to adjust and defend Castillejo 2v1***

However, with Leao’s pace and ball carrying, they remained a threat on the counter due to him being a great outlet.

***21- Leao's tendency to pull to the left exploits Danilo's positioning leading to Milan’s equaliser***

Regardless, the lack of a player connecting play in the central areas of the final third meant that Milan did not do much to disrupt Juventus’ shape when they were settled in the 4-4-2 and it is evident with the Pioli’s side only accumulating an xG of 0.91 (according to Infogol).

Conclusion

Stefano Pioli has earned a lot of praise for Milan’s scintillating start to the season, however, Juventus swept them aside to gain a valuable three points which see them close the gap to 7 points being Milan with a game in hand. This Juventus side is well-coached and Andrea Pirlo deserves time and patience to revamp this squad because he has the potential to be a world-class coach.

Written by RMD who you can find on Twitter with @/Raudemeter_EN

AC Milan 1 -3 Juventus: Match Report