Mad Max’s alterations empower the Juventus War Rig
70 minutes in and Lazio are outplaying the Italian champions, winners of the last 7 Serie A titles, and undoubtedly the best team in the land, Juventus. The unbeaten run is coming to an end
It all started from Lazio’s frantic press in the first half. Simone Inzaghi played in a 3–3–2–2 system, starting Marco Parolo the midfielder at right wing back, Luis Alberto in midfield and Joaquin Correa partnering Ciro Immobile upfront. The front four and the wing backs hunted Juve’s players like hungry predators. Building up through the full backs wasn’t an option as Lazio’s wing backs pressed them high up the pitch. Neither was Emre Can who Allegri admitted after the game that it was his mistake playing Can in front of the defence. Can was disposed by Luis Alberto in the 27th minute and the Spaniard came close to scoring only for Wojciech Szczesny to stop him.
Szczesny was the tension holding Juve’s back-line. His incredible save in the 37th minute denied Parolo, and kept the score at 0–0. Juve held till half time but the leakage was slowly sinking their ship. In the second half Allegri switched to a lopsided 4–3–1–2 with Douglas Costa moving to the left wing and Paulo Dybala dropping behind Cristiano Ronaldo. The major tweak however was moving Rodrigo Bentancur in front of the defence instead of Emre Can. Bentancur showed better composure in his build up play and handled Lazio’s press which slowly faded throughout the second half.
The inevitable was coming though. Emre Can headed the ball into his own net to give Lazio the lead. The leakage was flooding Juve’s ship and their captain’s changes weren’t effective as Ronaldo was the sole option for Costa’s crosses from the left wing which presented a predictable template for Lazio’s defence.
Spaces in Juve’s midfield appeared as they were in search of the equalizer. Correa put Immobile on goal but the striker uncharacteristically missed his trademark open body curler into the far post. Luis Alberto also was close to scoring a screamer as his rocket of a shot just skimmed the post.
The clock hit the 70th mark and Mad Max returned after they thought he disappeared in the desert. Max Allegri’s substitutions changed the course of the game. He brought on João Cancelo and Federico Bernardeschi instead of Douglas Costa and Blaise Matuidi, switching to a 4–2–3–1 system. Emre Can helped Bentancur with the build up as well as Dybala who dropped regularly to help in shifting the play towards the left wing.
Juve focused their play towards the left wing where Sergej Milinkovic-Savic lacked defensive discipline, Parolo was playing out of position at right wing back, and Bastos was beaten easily by Bernardeschi. Contrary to Allegri’s first change in the system now there were multiple options for the cross. Dybala coming late at the edge of the box, Ronaldo by the near post, and Cancelo bursting towards the far post. The crosses resulted in the equalizer as Bernardeschi cut back the cross to Dybala whose shot was saved by Strakosha, only for the ball to fall for Cancelo who finished it calmly. Bernardeschi commenced attacking from the left side, and one of his crosses was destined to find a darting Cancelo. Senad Lulic brought down the Portuguese and Juve were awarded a penalty in the 87th minute. Ronaldo placed it perfectly in the middle of the goal. 2–1 Juve clinched the win
“The Lazio pressing game caused us problems, especially because our own passing was so misplaced. It felt like we were all wearing different jerseys in the first half, because we couldn’t pass to a teammate. We adjusted some things and were more orderly, so finished the game on a high. We didn’t do well for the first hour, but the last half-hour I think did better” said Allegri after the game.
Allegri’s tweaks affected the game heavily. Moving Bentancur in-front of the defence improved Juve’s possession game, and the introduction of Cancelo and Bernardeschi on the wings terrorized Lazio’s back five. It isn’t the first time that Allegri’s changes dictated the outcome of a game. Against Tottenham Hotspurs in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, he brought on Stephan Lichtsteiner and Kwadwo Asamoah instead of Medhi Benatia and Blaise Matuidi. Switching from a lopsided 4–3–3 to a 4–2–3–1. Dybala’s roams towards the wings created 3 v 2 situations and the constant 2 v 2 on the wings stretched the Spurs defence. Juventus managed to score twice, first from a Lichtsteiner cross after Dybala roamed to the right flank, and then through a ball from Higuain to Dybala into the acres of space as the Spurs defence was stretched by the wingers.
Juve went through 4–3 on aggregate to crash out against eventual winners Real Madrid in the Quarter-finals. Allegri’s in-game changes along with his chameleon-esque flexibility in systems gives Juventus an edge in their European pursuit of the cup. 11 points separate Juventus from second place Napoli and baring an unexpected collapse they should secure their 8th straight title. It’s the Champions League that’s in the sights of the Old Lady.
Mad Max. We thought it’s just a metaphor, but is it ?
