AC Milan vs Juventus: 3 key battles in Sunday’s Serie A clash
Juventus travel to Milan on Sunday night knowing that victory will take them into the top-four following Atalanta’s goalless draw with Lazio.
The Rossoneri, meanwhile, are entering must-win territory in the context of the Serie A title race after league leaders Inter extended their lead at the top to five points thanks to Edin Dzeko’s late strike against Venezia.
Sunday’s bout is set to be a chess match between old-timer Massimiliano Allegri and Calcio’s most improved coach, Stefano Pioli. Last time out, it was Juventus who were dominant for the most part but Allegri’s conservative approach in the second half handed Milan a route back into the contest and the two sides played out an enthralling 1-1 draw.
We can expect more of the same this weekend. Milan, despite their depletion in defence and midfield, boast many tactical issues for Juventus. They’re a bad match-up for the Bianconeri and Allegri will have to be at his wily best to spearhead his side to victory at San Siro.
3 key battles to watch out for in AC Milan vs Juventus
We’re set to see several key battles play out as Juventus travel to Milan, and here are three that could determine Sunday’s Serie A clash.
Theo Hernandez & Rafael Leão vs Juventus’ right-hand side
During the formative stage of Stefano Pioli’s reign, Milan would use the overload to isolate principle to create a qualitative superiority down the left. The Rossoneri would frequently build their attacks down the right before quickly switching play to an isolated Theo Hernandez at the back post.
This dynamic has now completely altered thanks to the emergence and development of Rafael Leão into one of Europe’s most electric young wingers. Alongside Hernandez, the pair have forged a deadly relationship down Milan’s left.
No player has more Serie A goal contributions than Leão (ten) this term, while Hernandez’s evenly distributed eight goal contributions are the highest among defenders in the division. In short, they’re a tandem that must be slowed down for Juventus to claim victory, but doing so is much easier said than done.
It’s their variation that makes them such a difficult proposition for opponents. Leão is capable of beating his man on either side thanks to his gazelle-like stride and sheer pace, while Hernandez is an adept overlapper but even more dangerous on the underlap. Thus, nullifying the pair will not be a matter of two Juventus players marking them out of the contest, it’ll be a complex, collective effort and it’ll be interesting to see how Max Allegri goes about it.
With Juve projected to line up in a 4-2-3-1, the boss could his right midfielder, perhaps Weston McKennie, to track Hernandez’s varied surges from left-back while entrusting his right-back to compromise Leão’s majesty. The right-midfielder can’t track Hernandez all the way into his third, however. Otherwise, Juve will lose their threat in transition. He’ll need help from the closest pivot midfielder and right centre-back.
Much of the contest will go through Milan’s left, even if Juve are effective in nullifying the tandem. What Allegri must ensure, though, as we just alluded to, is that any defensive ploy doesn’t compromise Juve’s ability to counter-attack.