REAL MADRID BECOME PREDICTABLE | JUVENTUS FIND SPACE BETWEEN THE LINES

 

Juventus 2 - 1 Real Madrid

Morata 7,          Ronaldo 26
Tevez 56

We all love the infamous Galacticos and there star studded line up, but on Tuesday the 5th of May in the Juventus stadium, once the Stadio delle Alpi, the team who walked away with victory would be the team who played the best, not necessarily the best team. As the season draws to an end the fans are still waiting for the real Madrid partnership of Bale and Ronaldo to ignite like a Hollywood romance, instead we see a disjointed relationship one would expect to have with a distance ex wife. 

Juventus compact the  central space, forcing Madrid to attack from  wide areas

Both teams appeared to use a similar tactic keeping two strikers high up the pitch with one occasionally dropping deep. Both midfield units looked to stay narrow and Juventus did this particularly well forcing Madrid to play in the flanks. However Juventus used a very effective diamond which allowed Pirlo to have more time on the ball and Vidal complimented this shape by finding pockets of space in an already compact midfield. Ramos on the other hand did what Ramos does, breaking play up and playing to the wealth of world class ball players in the Madrid side. 

STARTING LINE UP 

 Juventus: 1 Buffon, 26 Lichsteiner, 19 Bonucci, 3 chellini, 33 Evra, 8 Marchisio, 21 Pirlo, 23Vidal, 27 Sturaro (15 Barzagli 64min), 10 Tevez(37 Pereyra 86min), 9 Morata ( 15 Llorente 78min).

Real Madrid: 1 Cassilla,  15 Carvajal, 2 Verane, 3 Pepe, 12 Marcelo, 8 Kroos, 4 Ramos, 10 Rodriguez, 23 Isco (14 Hernandez 63min), 7 Ronaldo, 11 Bale (20 jese 86min)

Pirlo vs Ramos | The Conductor vs The Playbreaker

One of these players glides around the pitch conducting his very own orchestra, passing the ball with the loft, pitch and drive a professional golfer is usually accustomed to. While the other is 5 years younger and breaks up play like a commando defending his country, intercepting passes, tackling and blocking heroically from start to finish. Both had a large part to play in their teams performance, even if their strategic deployment was for very different reasons. Pirlo spent the first half pushing the Madrid defensive line back and back with well timed and delicately placed long passes while Ramos struggled with his longer passes and gave possession away with many of his cross field balls. However Ramos blossomed in his defensive responsibilities with 63% tackle success, compared to only 33% for Pirlo, Ramos made 3 interceptions while Pirlo only managed 1, Ramos also made 1 clearance and 3 blocks, Pirlo never achieved any. 

The difference in there roles and responsibilities is clear, Madrid use a modern play breaker in the name of Ramos whilst Juventus have a much more stable and organized defense, allowing Pirlo the freedom to get on the ball, read the game and conduct his orchestra.

Juventus find space behind | Madrid are forced to attack down the flanks

Juventus midfielder Vidal played an integral role in breaking the Madrid midfield line. Often rotating with Tevez and Morata, helping the attack through the all important central areas (zone 14). The Clear difference in defending styles was obvious from the start, Juventus defenders often left the defensive line to press the Madrid attackers, while in the picture below you can clearly see Pepe pointing obliviously for any Madrid player to get much tighter to Vidal. 

Real Madrid spent the majority of the first half shooting from long range and crossing from wide areas, one of which did lead to a goal scored by Ronaldo. It would appear that Juventus had two very simple but effective plans, if Madrid where defensively balanced they appeared happy to keep possession and wait for a pocket of space to open up. But quite often the Madrid midfield and full backs where in advanced positions so a direct approach was adopted. Real Madrid only had one more shot in the whole game, a total of 13 followed closely with 12 from Juventus.

Who got it right tactically | Allegri or Ancelotti?

For me the Juventus side on this occasion had purpose and intention behind much of there attacks and even appeared comfortable letting Madrid attack in wide areas in anticipation of a quick counter. They limited Madrid to a predictable attack which every manager likes as the team can prepare before hand for the scenario that they will likely defend. For this to work successfully you need intelligent players to carry the tactical plan out and the players have to believe in the manager. 

The bottom line is, can Juventus limit the Galacticos onslaught at the Bernabéu and put in another determined performance or will Ronaldo and Ramos draw the best out of the men in white?

If you would like any session plans on breaking lines or counter attacking from deep please ask.