In the tight race for Champions League qualification this season, the two powerhouses are considered strong rivals for the top four. Roma's unfortunate injury to Zaniolo last week makes Dybala's midfield role in this match increasingly crucial. Juventus are also plagued by injuries, with summer signings Di Maria and Pogba both missing out due to injury.
With Juventus missing the heart of their attack, Coach Allegri decisively started 19-year-old starlet Miletti as a midfield support behind Vlahovic in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Roma, on the other hand, advanced captain Pellegrini to midfield to fill Zaniolo's shoes, with Matic, who joined in the summer window, partnering Cristante at the back, also in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
(Starting lineups for both teams. (Photo credit: Whoscored)
At the beginning of the match, Juventus launched a fierce attack on Roma. When the ball was passed to Smolin, players such as Vlahovic, Cuadrado, Desilio, and Locatelli quickly rushed forward, and Locatelli even closed in on Roma's backbone Matic. Facing Juventus' pressure, Roma's Spinazzola didn't opt for a safe return pass, but instead passed the ball directly forward in an attempt to find an opportunity in front of the ball. This attacking pattern is exactly what Roma are good at, with the fullbacks splitting the side and hitting the middle of the field towards the receiving point to quickly break through the opposing defense.
(Spinazzola out for a broken ball. (Photo credit: Eldar Screen)
However, the path of the pass was blocked by Desilio and the ball bounced to the feet of Miletti. Juventus quickly counterattacked, with Cuadrado holding the ball and Matic failing to get back to his position in time for a foul. A free kick from this position was a threatening one, the ball could turn into a lob with enough power and Vlahovic capitalized on it, hitting the crossbar and into the net, leaving Roma keeper Patricio unresponsive.
(Vlahovic breaks free. (Photo credit: Eldar Pictures)
After conceding the goal, Roma tried to reorganize their attack, but Juventus' counterattacks in the Roma half put the visitors under great pressure. In addition, the Roma players seemed to be a bit nervous in the first half, and made a lot of simple direct pass errors.
(Didn't press Ibanez for a pass. (Photo credit: Eldar Screen)
(Matic has absolutely no chance of getting it. (Photo credit: Eldar Pictures)
This Ibáñez direct pass to Matic wasn't difficult, but it went straight to the opposition, allowing Juventus to hit another counterattack with Kostic finishing.
Cristante's defense was too conservative during the game, resulting in a weak midfield, and again didn't play much of a role in this game against the Juventus onslaught. He had only 1 steal, no interceptions and no clearances, compared to another veteran back-rower, Matic, who had 3 steals, 2 interceptions and 1 clearances, which is clearly a significant shortcoming. The game also saw Cristante miss an up-tempo tackle leading to a multi-hit opportunity for Juventus.
After the counterattack, Juventus' Miletti's pass to Cuadrado was slightly too deep and Cuadrado didn't stop the ball well enough, eventually shooting from a narrow angle and being blocked by Patricio.
Another time Cristante's defense didn't solidify in the middle first and instead tried to run to stare down the opposing wing player, which allowed Miletti to easily get the ball in the middle of the midfield and quickly advance towards the Roma goal.
(Cristante stares down a man out of position. (Photo credit: Eldar Screen)
Defensive dislocations and poor passing success led to a fairly passive first half for Roma, with only a few counter-attacking chances on offense that weren't converted into goals. Neither Dybala nor Pellegrini are players who hold the ball on their backs, the two backs, Cristante, are not good at holding the ball and cannot help the backfield get out of trouble, and Matic, limited by his age, is not able to freshen up the ball time and again.
Without Zaniolo, who can hold the ball in front of the counterattack, Dybala and Pellegrini had to come back to receive the ball from time to time, and that's when Abraham had to face 2-3 defenders from the opposing team. Combined with the fact that his ability to hold the ball on his back wasn't great, he was tackled directly from behind by Juventus players on several occasions. Even the second drop after the scramble, Roma did not put many players in front of the field, and it was hard to grab the chance.
(Abrahams was closely guarded. (Photo credit: Eldar Pictures)
Juventus team consciously cut off the connection between Roma players and Abrahams, while the fullbacks defended tightly, the backs also blocked the passing line at the right time. Offensively, Juventus team took advantage of the opponent's middle of the void, holding the ball after the rapid attack, coupled with the situation of Rome's 3 defenders, the two sides of the space is larger, so frequently by the middle of the road to promote the split side, to launch an attack on Rome.
(Karsdorp on the right is not as good as back on defense. (Photo credit: Eldar Screen)
Roma's flanks were often caught in a situation where they could not get back on defense, allowing Juventus many chances to get a foot on the ball. In the first half, Juventus had 10 shots on goal compared to Roma's three.
