The battle for this season's Champions League qualification is on fire, with the two powerhouses Roma and Juventus becoming the most direct rivals. Unfortunately, Roma lost core player Zaniolo in last week's match, which makes Dybala's dependence on the midfield even more prominent. Juventus is also plagued by injuries, with both Di Maria and Pogba, who were brought in during the summer window, out due to injuries.
With Juventus' attacking firepower waning, Allegri decisively started 19-year-old starlet Miletti as a starter to fill the void behind Vlahovic in a 4-2-3-1 formation. For Roma, captain Manuel Pellegrini was brought into the midfield to fill Zaniolo's place, with Matic partnering Cristante at the back, also in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
At the start of the match, Juventus pounced on Roma. When the ball was returned to Smalling, Vlahovic, Cuadrado, De Silio, and Locatelli rushed towards the opposing defense. Locatelli even closed in on Roma's backbone Matic. Roma's Spinazzola, facing the pressure, didn't opt for a safe return pass, but a direct pass in an attempt to find a breakthrough in front of the goal.
However, the path of the pass was blocked by De Sciglio and the ball bounced to Miletti's feet, Juventus were quick to counter-attack, Cuadrado held the ball up and Matic was unable to get back in time for the uncontested foul. The free kick was extremely risky and Vlahovic capitalized on the opportunity, hitting the crossbar and into the net, leaving Roma keeper Patricio unresponsive.
After conceding the goal, Roma tried to reorganize their attack, but Juventus' counter-attacks in the Roma half put the visitors under great pressure, and with the timidity shown by the Roma players in the first half, direct passes were missed.
Ibáñez's uncomplicated direct ball to Matic was given straight away and Juventus seized the opportunity to launch a counter-attack, with Kostic finishing.
Cristante underperformed on the defensive end, covering too little ground and leading to the team's lackluster midfield. Compared to Matic, Cristante made significantly fewer tackles, interceptions, and clearances, and also made uptempo errors during the game, allowing Juventus to get more than their fair share of chances.
After Juventus counterattacked, Miletti's pass to Cuadrado was a little deeper and Cuadrado made a poor stop, narrowing the angle of his shot, which was blocked by Patricio.
Instead of sticking to the middle of the field first, Cristante's defense tried to run and 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.
Defensive lapses and poor passing success led to a rather passive first half for Roma, with only a few counter-attacking chances on the offensive end that weren't converted into goals. Neither Dybala nor Pellegrini are masters of holding the ball on their backs, back Cristante is not good at holding the ball and struggles to help the backfield out of trouble, and Matic is limited by his age and fails to comb the ball every time.
Lacking Zaniolo who can hold the ball in front of the counterattack, Dybala and Pellegrini often have to go back to the defense to receive the ball, this time Abraham faced the opponent's 2-3 defenders, the ability to hold the ball on his back is not good, many times by Juventus players from the back of the block, even in the second drop after the fight for the top, Roma in front of the field not many players invested in the opportunity, it is also very difficult to snatch the opportunity.
Juventus consciously cut off the connection between Roma players and Abrahams, with the defenders defending tightly and the backs blocking the passing line at the right time. Attack, Juventus use each other in the middle of the void, holding the ball after the rapid attack, plus Rome 3 back situation, the two sides of the space is larger, so frequently by the middle of the advance to split the side, to Rome to launch an attack.
Roma's flanks were often caught in a situation where they couldn't get back on defense, allowing Juventus to have many chances on goal, with Juventus having 10 shots on goal in the first half of the game, compared to only 3 on Roma's side.
