AC Milan – Juventus: Milan’s Superior Guile Outclasses Woeful Juve (2-0)

With notable absences on both sides, Milan overran Juve’s midfield by concentrating more quality in the middle of the pitch. Stefano Pioli’s fluid formation surprised an overly static and exposed Juventus. This places Massimiliano Allegri’s predicament under more scrutiny while Milan bounce back from the heavy defeat against Chelsea in the Champions League.

Tactical analysis and match report written by Giovanni Cesaroni.

AC Milan against Juventus, the most awaited game of this Serie A’s list of fixtures, took place in a vibrant atmosphere at the Stadio San Siro. Stakes were high for the two teams lying respectively at the fourth and sixth place in the table.

Both managers had to deal with notable absences influencing their final choices: Pioli opted for a very fluid 4-3-3 shape with Theo Hernández coming back from injury and Pierre Kalulu deployed as right back, Tommaso Pobega alongside Ismael Bennacer and Sandro Tonali in midfield while Brahim Díaz played as right winger in the front three with Rafael Leão and Olivier Giroud.

By contrast, Allegri left little room for experiment relying on a more classic 4-4-2 formation, with Manuel Locatelli and Adrien Rabiot as central midfielders and Juan Cuadrado and Filip Kostić running down the wings to supply the strikers Arkadiusz Milik and Dusan Vlahović.

Pioli’s reshapes Milan’s midfield
The game started at high intensity, culminating in a series of individual duels that immediately sprung up in the middle of the pitch: Tonali man-marked Rabiot while Pobega took care of Locatelli. On the sides, Cuadrado started aggressively, trying to take advantage, on the counter, from Theo’s more advanced position. On Milan’s right side . . .