How Massimiliano Allegri masterminded Juventus’ victory over Chelsea

The goal puts Juve in command

It took barely a minute for Juventus to break the deadlock in the second half. A long ball from kick-off caught Chelsea out and after Bernardeschi received brilliantly on the swivel, the Blues were in trouble. The Italian picked out his compatriot Chiesa, who outwitted Rudiger with a deadly blindside run before thrashing his first-time effort beyond Mendy at the near post.

It was a superstar sequence from Chiesa and Bernardeschi’s contribution shouldn’t go unnoticed.

After the goal, the game became incredibly difficult for Chelsea. They’re not used to going a goal behind. For Juve, the lead allowed Allegri to deploy full-blown catenaccio.

Their structure became more distinct. It was a 5-3-1-1 with the front two performing functions as opposed to positions. Bernardeschi was the ‘linker’ between defence and attack in transition (no Juventus player received more progressive passes than his seven – the next best was two), while Chiesa was the sole outlet. He drifted across the Chelsea defence looking to receive in behind. The midfield three comprised of Rabiot, Bentancur and Locatelli, with the defence retaining the same personnel.

Cuadrado was now an out-and-out full-back, although Bernardeschi’s gilt-edged chance midway through the second period denoted the Colombian’s instinct to affect play in the attacking third. That sequence began following a change in system from Tuchel that allowed Locatelli to escape the clutches of Chelsea’s press. With Ziyech off the field, there was no one assigned to the Italian in this particular phase and the midfielder kick-started the move with a pass out to Rabiot on the left.

The Frenchman’s switch of play was sumptuous, but Cuadrado’s deft touch into the path of Bernardeschi was even better. With the goal at his mercy, the goal-deprived forward fluffed his lines. He missed the target by a mile.