Torino – Juventus: Turin Derby Win Gives Allegri A Lifeline (0-1)

After an abysmal European performance against Maccabi Haifa, Juventus faced Torino in a heated Turin derby. Ultimately, a sense of togetherness and will to fight helped Juve to overcome their city rivals, winning their first (!) away game of the season and partially restoring some faith in Allegri’s capabilities to turn the negative period around.
Tactical analysis and match report written by Giovanni Cesaroni.

Often a tense and hard-fought match, the first Turin derby of the season could be considered a pivotal game for Juventus, in the wake of a disastrous defeat against Maccabi Haifa that destroyed their hopes of reaching the knockout phase of the Champions League. Also, in the light of Torino’s rising aspirations and Juventus’ identity crisis, rarely had this match run on a thinner balance before kick-off.

Ivan Jurić’s Torino had perhaps collected fewer points than what their performance suggested before this match. The absence of the striker Antonio Sanabria was a tough hit to take, especially given their profligacy in front of goal (eight total goals so far this season) with only Nikola Vlašić being a player with more than a single goal scored (three).

The Croatian manager, disciple of Gian Piero Gasperini, deployed his team in a classic 3-4-2-1 shape: Perr Schuurs was the center-back responsible to mark Dušan Vlahović, alongside Koffi Djidji and Ricardo Rodríguez, while in the midfield, Valentino Lazaro and Ola Aina were the wing-backs with Karol Linetty and Saša Lukić in the middle. The trio upfront saw Nikola Vlašić playing in a false nine position, partnered by Aleksei Miranchuk and Nemanja Radonjić as attacking midfielders.

For Juve, much had been said about . . .