The old trope about “attack winning games, defence winning titles” has generally been debunked. It is true that title-winning teams tend not to concede many goals, but that’s largely down to the fact that if you keep possession and attack effectively at the other end you’re less likely to give up goals. It’s not a coincidence that the vast majority of the sides at or near the top of the table in Europe’s big five leagues generally play proactive football and are hugely comfortable with possession in the final third.

Massimiliano Allegri, the Juventus coach, realised this some time go. He talked about how his team needed to learn to dominate games territorially. A sound defence had taken them to three Serie A titles and