With Antonio Conte’s Inter without Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi for Tuesday night’s Coppa Italia semi-final tie, Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo smelt blood.
Here’s an analysis of the contest.
Successful press
Despite the Nerazzurri’s ability to play around Juve’s frantic press last time out, Pirlo failed to alter from the out of possession principles that have brought him relative success on his return to Turin. Whereas some may have opted for a more restrained pressing scheme, Il Maestro went full throttle once more.
And on this occasion, the Bianconeri’s work in this regard proved mightily effective, with much more of a concerted effort made to slow down Inter’s metronome, Marcelo Brozovic – often Dejan Kulusevski would drop from his striker position to man-mark the Croatian.
Particularly in the first half, Inter, one of the most proficient sides at playing out from the back in Europe, failed to do so, and while we can credit Pirlo’s fierce man-oriented press for creating such issues, the absence of Lukaku and Hakimi was perhaps more significant.
Without Lukaku, Inter lacked a focal point and the aggression of Juve’s two centre-backs prevent Lautaro Martinez and Alexis Sanchez from establishing a relationship up top, while a lack of dynamism down the flanks allowed Juve wing-backs Alex Sandro and Juan Cuadrado to be aggressive in their positioning, almost pinning the Inter duo deep in their own half for large swathes of the bout. The visitors were dominant in wide areas.
Juve’s counter-press, which has worked to great effect this season also served as the primary creator in the Bianconeri’s improved first-half showing. Often were the visitors able to pick-pocket the hosts in their half before a quick transition culminated in a chance. Pirlo will be displeased at his side’s work on the counter, however, especially late on. Far too inefficient.
Shutting out Nicolo Barella
Inter’s Nicolo Barella produced a midfield performance of the highest order when these two sides met in January, and although he was one of the hosts’ more influential players on Tuesday, Juve did a fine job at preventing the Italian from accessing his favourite zone: the right half-space.
Pirlo’s inclusion of Federico Bernadeschi was a smart one due to the former Fiorentina man’s willingness to track back and carry out his defensive duties. The Italian, lined up on the left, tracked Barella deep in the half-space, with Adrien Rabiot also providing ample cover. They shut off the ‘Barella Zone’ pretty much all night, with the Inter man forced to work his magic from deeper and wider areas.
Mixed build-up
January’s clash saw Conte allow Juve to play out from the back, as Inter settled in a rather deep and compact 5-3-2 block. We saw a more active Nerazzurri side out of possession on Tuesday, which troubled Juve in the build-up phase.
The Bianconeri really lacked technical security in this one, with Rodrigo Bentancur once again particularly sloppy, while a slight change in the structure meant they were vulnerable against the counter.
Pirlo ditched the lopsided possession system for large parts of the contest, instead favouring a 2-3-5 configuration. It’s a formation Pep Guardiola has often used, albeit with the usage of inverted full-backs. Cuadrado and Sandro were far from inverted, they were high and wide, and this aggressive structure enabled Inter to break swiftly for the opener.
After Inter defended Sandro’s cross from the right, an Arturo Vidal ‘hack’ away sent Alexis Sanchez through against Merih Demiral, with Lautaro Martinez streaking away to create a two-vs-two against Matthijs de Ligt. Bentancur was the only other Juve player in the picture at the start of the sequence. Nevertheless, after Alexis outfoxed Demiral, Barella surged past Juve’s tracking defenders and Lautaro beat de Ligt in the box, the Nerazzurri were able to breach Gianluigi Buffon’s goal for the first, but crucially only time.
However, while the structure perhaps made Juve more vulnerable in defensive transition in the opening exchanges, there’s no doubting the visitors’ improvement in other facets, namely playing vertically and receiving between Inter’s lines. Before Brozovic started to perform more characteristically as a screener after the hour mark, Juve had plenty of joy progressing through the thirds. There were a few examples of wonderful build-up sequences that led to shots at goal.
Juventus’ second-half approach
With Pirlo’s usage of flying full-backs paying off as Cuadrado won Juve a penalty following a burst into the Inter box before Cristiano Ronaldo made the most of a horrible mix-up between Samir Handanovic and Alessandro Bastoni, Juve were able to go in at half-time with a 2-1 lead.
Pirlo’s approach after the restart was an interesting one as it constantly changed. Between the 55th and 70th minute mark, Juve dropped deep and ceased control, while a pair of build-up errors from Bentancur handed Alexis and Christian Eriksen great opportunities to score. A combination of Buffon – who also saved well from Matteo Darmian in this period – and Demiral’s supreme awareness prevented Inter from equalising.
However, after a prolonged tricky period, Juve were superb in the closing stages.
The introduction of Arthur Melo allowed Juve to enjoy periods of sustained possession, while a more aggressive and proactive 4-4-2 block prevented Inter from entering the final third, as astute pressing triggers almost stifled the Nerazzurri. Inter struggled to create late on as Juve remained resilient in defence – Demiral and de Ligt were fantastic – while substitutes Alvaro Morata and Federico Chiesa helped the Bianconeri see the contest out by drawing plenty of fouls, breaking up any momentum the hosts could gather. Overall, their game management was shrewd.
Missed opportunity?
This was undoubtedly a massive result for Juve, giving them a slender advantage for the return leg in Turin next week. Although, the performance was far from perfect.
Against an Inter side without two key cogs in Conte’s wheel, Juve were able to, sure, disrupt their build-up and progress through the thirds at greater frequency, but their display was error-ridden and ultimately reliant on braindead moments in the Nerazzurri defence as a source of goals. Chances were hard to come by, no doubt.
There’s no questioning that the additions of Hakimi and Lukaku for the second leg makes Inter better in almost every aspect: build-up, transitions, you name it.
Thus, while Tuesday’s result may be a huge psychological boost, you feel that the Bianconeri may have missed a trick by not killing off the tie in Milan.
I think they’ll have to be improved from Tuesday night’s display if they’re to progress into the Coppa Italia final.