Juventus – AS Roma: The Winning Is In The Wing-Backs (2-1)

Whilst Gian Piero Gasperini instructed his right side to remain deeper for protection, Luciano Spalletti had both his wing-backs working in aggressive in-possession roles, which reaped the rewards in both goals.

Tactical analysis and match report by Joel Parker.

In the pre-match conference, Luciano Spalletti described his matchup with Gian Piero Gasperini as ‘a university exam’, but how many more assessments will Juve have to sit before mastering the ideas of the new coach?

Like his counterpart, Spalletti has been fixated on the back-three since his stint at the national team. Out-of-possession, his Juve team has struggled to set an intensity in the press, often leaving an extra man in the backline for protection, so the unit ahead is a player down. In the buildup, progression is still Manuel Locatelli-dependent, despite the return of Motta’s left triangle (Teun Koopmeiners at left center-back, Andrea Cambiaso and Kenan Yıldız). Despite some deficiencies, the results tell a different story: only the champions have beaten them since Spalletti’s appointment.

The high praise of Gasperini comes from their strength off the ball, especially in the high/medium blocks. On Monday night, Roma flexed their strengths against Como, who tried to build through the lines from deep. As a result, Roma lurks behind the front three, who all host weaknesses, but is their arrangement in possession a high-enough grade to get them in the Scudetto talk? A string of 1-0 defeats pulls this into question. 

Spalletti made two changes from the

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