Match date: 15 September 2015

Two sides with distinct starts to their respective domestic leads with Manchester City coming into the match having secured the maximum number points and not conceding a goal while Juventus have already lost twice which is just one less loss than all of last year.

The hope for Manuel Pellegrini was to carry on his side’s league form, but he was forced to do so without Sergio Agüero, who was only fit enough for the bench. Wilfred Bony started up top while Samir Nasri started as well in Pellegrini’s 4-2-3-1.

As mentioned, Juventus have so far struggled in Serie A, but Massimiliano Allegri would have been hoping that his players could draw on their appearance in the Champions League final last season despite losing a number of key players. Juventus started in the match in a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield, but it became very much a 4-5-1 / 4-3-3.

Allegri’s Midfield

Juventus started the match in a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield consisting of Pogba, Hernanes, Cuadrado, and Sturaro behind Morata and Mandzukic. While Pogba clearly played on the left side of the diamond and Cuadrado played somewhat on the right, there was a rotation between Hernanes and Sturaro between the bottom and top of the diamond. The idea here seemed to be that Pogba and Cuadrado would be able to occupy Yaya Toure and Fernandinho when Juventus were in possession and that this would allow one of Hernanes or Sturaro to be able to get on the ball by outnumbering David Silva in that area of the pitch. However, this became an issue. With Cuadrado playing centrally, given that he has never really played in a central role before, his natural instinct was to drift out wide, which helped keep Kolarov pinned back, but also meant Fernandinho was free to pressure the free midfielder for Juventus. The most notable example was when the Brazilian won the ball from Sturaro very early in the match and played in Sterling who had his shot saved by Buffon. Below is that example.

The idea was tactically interesting and perhaps would have worked better with the likes of Khedira or Marchisio, but Cuadrado’s natural play took him wide. This was not the only time that Sturaro looked uncomfortable picking up the ball in a deeper position, so as the match went on the positions of the diamond became much more permanent with Hernanes acting as the deep lying midfielder. However, as the match went on, the diamond became less and less effective. Despite outnumbering Manchester City in the middle of the pitch, Juventus struggled for possession of the ball and were continually left exposed in the wide areas, so just about 15 minutes or so into the match, Juventus looked very much like a 4-3-3. Allegri seemed to have this plan going into the match though as there were times in the opening quarter hour where signs of a 4-3-3 appeared, but it became Juventus’ true shape a bit into the match. Morata played from the left, Mandzukic was through the middle, and Cuadrado was on the right. Morata and Cuadrado had the task of keeping Sagna and Kolarov pinned back as much as possible. Below you can see Juventus in their diamond shape early on and the switch to a 4-3-3, which was much more of a 4-5-1 when defending.

Defensively, it was an excellent move by Allegri to move to a 4-5-1. As mentioned, Cuadrado was able to keep Kolarov from having too much of an attacking threat down the Manchester City left, while Morata was able to keep Evra from having to deal with a 2v1 situation all night. More importantly, however, was how Juventus’ shape slowed Manchester City’s attacks. Yes, there was space in the wide areas and Manchester City used it, but the English side would certainly prefer to get the ball into the likes of Silva and Yaya Toure in central areas between the lines. Silva, in particular, thrives in this area of the pitch and Manchester City typically combine very well around the opposition’s penalty area. However, Manchester City looked slow in possession as Yaya Toure was forced to drop deep to get on the ball while the passing lanes to David Silva were closed out due to the narrowness of Sturaro, Hernanes, and Pogba in the centre of Juventus’ five man midfield. Toure was rarely able to get on the ball behind the Juventus midfield and David Silva was only really able to get on the ball in the half-spaces, but even when he received the ball there, he was never really able to turn inside with it, but was instead forced wide.

Going forward, Juventus looked good when they did one of two things; either play direct balls into Morata or Mandzukic, or look for Lichtsteiner and Cuadrado to combine down the right side of the pitch. In fact, Pogba’s goal that was ruled off because of Morata’s offside position started with a direct ball up to Mandzukic and then a ball out wide to Cuadrado and the Colombian put in an excellent cross, as he did a few times on the night. Pogba was lively throughout the match and gave Juventus width on the left when Morata came inside, but the Frenchman was mostly left isolated in that area and Juventus rarely played on that side of the pitch.

Manchester City Lack Penetration

Perhaps an unfair heading considering the chances that Raheem Sterling had, but overall, much of Manchester City’s play was in front of Juventus’ defensive and midfield lines. As mentioned above, David Silva was unable to really find space between the lines, the area he wants to get on the ball, and so his influence on the match was hardly influential. Yaya Toure had to drop deep to get the ball and was unable to break the lines on the dribble with one of his excellent forward runs. What Manchester City were missing was Agüero. He was only fit enough for the bench and without him, Bony was selected. The Ivorian striker is good in his own respect, but compared to Agüero and against a team that was willing to sit back and allow Manchester City to have the ball, Bony’s skill set was less suited than Agüero’s would have been. Manchester CIty needed a player that could either find the passing lanes to get into or drag defenders out of position to allow the passing lanes to open for a teammate. They also needed a player that could get in behind the Juventus back for with a quick turn or combination, something that Agüero would have been able to do.

Without that player and without David Silva getting on the ball in dangerous positions, Manchester City looked slow in possession and less than purposeful with the ball. They moved it out wide, trying to create space in the middle, but the play was slow and the home side struggled to up the tempo when needed. Sterling had his chances when Manchester City broke forward, and a huge credit to Gigi Buffon for his brilliant saves on the Englishman, but Sterling had a clear chance in each half, with the second half effort one being that could have demoralised Juventus.

Changes

Pellegrini made the first change, bringing on Kevin De Bruyne for Sterling, both of whom signed in the summer for a total of over £100m. It was somewhat odd considering how the match was going. Not only had Nasri not contributed much, but there was a need for pace and purpose in Manchester City’s play and as good as De Bruyne is, he is a similar playmaker to what Manchester City had on the pitch already. Pellegrini was forced into his second change with Otamendi coming on for the injured Vincent Kompany. Just before Morata scored, Navas was warming up, but after Juventus went up 2-1, Pellegrini opted to bring on Agüero. Despite the personnel changes, there was no real change of approach from Manchester City. Pellegrini must have had the belief that they were going to get a go ahead goal, despite failing to create persistent chances.

Allegri’s first change was forced as Dybala came on for the injured Mandzukic while Barzagli was brought on to help keep Juventus’ lead.

Conclusion

Allegri was well prepared for the match. He certainly had a concrete idea about how he was going to play Manchester City; do not allow them dominance in the middle of the pitch. With that he started with a diamond, but it was brief and gave way to a 4-5-1 that allowed Juventus to continue limiting balls into Silva between the lines, but also gave support to the Juventus full backs. Overall, despite their troubles in Serie A so far, Juventus looked good and tactically astute.

Manchester City lacked finishing, but also lacked any consistent penetration and any penetration from their typical style of football. Everything was slow and it allowed Juventus to have everything played in front of them.