AS Roma – Juventus: Chaos In The Capital (3-4)

What ensued here in Rome can only be described as chaos. Seven goals, some spectacular and some scruffy, punctuated by a stunning seven-minute comeback to thrill onlookers. Structural aspects came into play given matching tactical shapes but the rapid-fire scoring and late penalty drama stole the show, much to the dismay of José Mourinho. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Julian Chingoma.

Greater parity within the upper echelons of the Serie A table means the league often coughs up intriguing contests. The schedule did not skip a beat here as Roma faced Juventus after their recent, less-than-ideal results against AC Milan and Napoli, respectively.

The home side trailed their visitors by three points giving them a tangible one-match objective to pursue. Looking to avoid being caught, Juve were six points off fourth place. A turnaround in form, and re-entering the Scudetto race, would be borderline miraculous, but not entirely out of the picture.

José Mourinho had the hosts kick off in what was branded a 3-5-2 formation but operated as a 4-2-3-1 shape. Bryan Cristante played in midfield to join Jordan Veretout while Lorenzo Pellegrini was more advanced. Behind the midfielders were the backline of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Roger Ibañez, Chris Smalling and Matías Viña ahead of Rui Patrício. The attacking trio was then Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Tammy Abraham and Felix Afena-Gyan.

The away side had to deal with the touchline absence of the suspended Massimiliano Allegri. Marco Landucci would be on the bench as Juve started in a 4-2-3-1 shape. In goal . . .