Milan 0-2 Juventus: Milan play well, but Juventus show ruthlessness upfront
The starting line-ups
Clarence Seedorf's Milan played extremely well – but couldn't translate their dominance into goals.
Seedorf changed no fewer than six players, despite winning 2-0 at Sampdoria last time out. Mario Balotelli was still unavailable.
Juventus were without Arturo Vidal through suspension and Giorgio Chiellini was only fit enough for the bench, but otherwise Antonio Conte's line-ups was as expected.
Milan were superior for long periods, but lacked combination play and reliable finishing upfront – in stark contrast to Juventus.
Battle down Milan's right
The game seemed set to be won and lost down Milan's right, and Juventus' left, because in the opening stages Kwadwo Asamoah kept finding an extraordinary amount of space down the flank – mainly thanks to Adel Taarabt's lack of interest in defending. Juventus were free to hit crossfield balls towards him, although the wing-back's first contribution was an embarrassing air-shot. Still, the space was down that flank.
Juve's problem, however, was that Taarabt was getting space on the break, and he was Milan's most dangerous attacking player in the first half. With Asamoah higher up, it meant Martin Caceres was being drawn out of the back three to cope with him, and after the Moroccan dangerously dribbled towards goal a couple of times, Asamoah was forced to drop back and get goalside. Milan had won this mini-battle, and this meant Ignazio Abate could get forward on the overlap to play a few dangerous balls.
Pazzini spearheads attack, Poli nullifies Pirlo
Milan's use of Andrea Poli was interesting. He played at the top of the midfield triangle, shutting down his near-namesake Andrea Pirlo, despite the fact he's accustomed to playing in a deep position. He played this role well, and Pirlo's influence on the game in the first half was minimal – although Milan suffered because Poli isn't a real creative player, and was reliable rather than incisive with his distribution.
The true creativity came from Kaka and Taarabt, and the overall format of the side was interesting – a 4-2-3-1 with a cautious player in the number ten role, but two natural number tens drifting in from wide.
A common method of Milan's attack, however, was hitting long balls towards Giampaolo Pazzini. The striker played towards the left and combined nicely with Kaka, causing Andrea Barzagli problems down that side. Pazzini is amazingly inconsistent, but when on form his movement is excellent, and he occupied Juve's back three excellently, creating space for midfield runners behind.
Juve midfield problems
Juve struggled in midfield for long periods, being dominated in terms of possession (even if their gameplan wasn't necessarily to control the ball) and struggling to work the ball through the centre of midfield. The absence of Vidal, who brings energy, tackling, passing quality and a goalscoring threat,
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