Team Focus: Relentless Juventus Building From the Back

It wasn’t the most original idea. Many had thought of it and tried it before him. But Lyon coach Remi Garde still focused much of his preparation for the first leg of Thursday night’s Europa League quarter final against Juventus around it. The gist of his game plan seemed to be: stop Andrea Pirlo and they would in turn limit the control their opponents exercised on proceedings. 

Steed Malbranque was detailed to follow the playmaker everywhere, removing the option to play through him from Juventus. And when Pirlo did get on the ball the Lyon players in his vicinity sought to position themselves in such a manner that the angles of the passes he was considering were closed. 

Of great credit to their execution, it worked. Pirlo’s influence was restricted. He had only 59 touches at the Stade Gerland; his second-lowest tally in a match he has completed this season. Hassled in possession the Italy international lost the ball 14 times and completed just 34 of 40 passes. 

The consequence of this tactic is that it forces someone else to make the play. Borussia Dortmund, for instance, applied the same strategy against Real Madrid last season. “Our plan was to take Xabi Alonso out of the game,” Jürgen Klopp recalled. “Because if Alonso is allowed to play how he wants it’s impossible to play against Madrid. And Mario Götze covered him… If you block Xabi, you oblige Pepe to always keep the ball.” And Dortmund knew he was uncomfortable on it. 

Juventus’ centre-backs aren’t, however. Since the appointment of coach Antonio Conte two and a half years ago, playing out of defence has been their game. And looking at the team’s statistics, you could be forgiven for thinking their defenders are midfield players. Given how high they push up during matches and their willingness to step out and carry the ball forward, that is more or less the case. 

So while as you might expect Pirlo averages more passes per game than anyone else (68), coming up after him is Giorgio Chiellini (67.6), Andrea Barzagli (63.7), Martín Cáceres (61.6), Leonardo Bonucci (60.4) and Angelo Ogbonna (51.7), all of whom are centre-backs. Bonucci in particular has established a reputation as a ball-player and when Pirlo was marked out of the game last night not for the first time he came to the fore. He became the regista. 

Bonucci had almost twice as many touches (117), and completed (83) and attempted (103) more than double the number of passes that his immaculately groomed teammate did. Some of them were long (16) and inaccurate, which led one set of commentators to form the opinion of Bonucci based almost entirely on the night that he was ill at ease with the ball at his feet. It wasn’t his game, they said, not what he’s about. But, it is. Remember for instance how against Lazio at the beginning of the season, Bonucci made two great assists for Arturo Vidal and Mirko Vucinic in a 4-1 win. He was Bonucci-bauer. 

Sure he doesn’t have Pirlo’s eye for a pass - few players do - but opponents do tend to be wary of allowing him too much time on the ball precisely because they know he can do damage. Opponents marking Pirlo therefore have to be very disciplined not to leave their man and go with him or one of Juventus’ other centre-backs instead. Provoking them into doing that is one of the reasons - in addition to the player’s own nous and experience of how to lose his marker - why Pirlo nearly always finds pockets of space from which he can impose himself on the game. 

It’s one of several Juventus contingencies and variations. When Pirlo was blocked, Bonucci playmaked. When that didn’t work, Conte shifted his approach to fewer long balls and more inter-play through the introductions of Mirko Vucinic and Sebastian Giovinco, who made a telling impact. Conte saw Lyon were marking Juventus man-to-man. He needed someone who could beat his man and put them in difficulty. And that was Giovinco. 

But the breakthrough was made by Bonucci, who got Juventus an away goal, clinching a 1-0 win in the 85th minute. He was the WhoScored Man of the Match with a rating of 7.9 and deservedly so. Bonucci orchestrated the defence, tried to direct the team as a whole, and ultimately made the difference. 

At times it was ugly and though Juventus bounced back from Sunday’s defeat to Napoli, there is concern that this team is running on vapour. There was also criticism of Juventus for not making lighter work of a Lyon side who are fifth in Ligue 1 and without several first team regulars. But then the Italian champions were hardly at full strength either and couldn’t or chose not to call upon Barzagli, Ogbonna, Stephan Lichtsteiner, the suspended Vidal and Fernando Llorente. 

Injuries at the back have also meant Conte has only lined up his first choice defence three times in 2014 and yet since the New Year Juventus have still managed to keep 10 clean sheets in the 20 games. Bonucci has resisted more than Chiellini and Barzagli, holding it together for his team. The strength of his character last night really reflects that of Juventus. 

They are relentless and remain on course to reach their first final in the Europa League or old UEFA Cup since 1995, a final that will be held at the Juventus Stadium in Turin. Win that and a third consecutive Scudetto and it will be the third time the club has done a league and continental double. History in the making.

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