[CL] Atletico Madrid 1-0 JUVENTUS (October 1st 2014) (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Mark
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I foresee a very cagey game in which neither team is prepared to take risks to win.
Atletico will battle away, get crosses into the box, and look to win the game with a set-piece.
Juve will look to keep the game slow, keep men behind the ball, and hope for a moment of quality from an individual to win the game.
I'm curious to see whether Allegri will look to use Juve's excellent midfield to try and dominate in that area and control the game from there or if he will be content to drop back a little and look to hold Atletico at arm's length.
And will Juve make much of an effort to prevent Atletico getting crosses in? 3-5-2 is not a good shape for doing that because of generally being outnumbered on the flanks. Having three centre-halves in the box should, of course, leave you in a good position to deal with any crosses, though.
Juve have to back themselves to defend set-pieces properly. They are going to be playing Caceres/Ogbonna, Bonucci, Chiellini, Lichtsteiner, Pogba and Llorente. If you can't defend high balls with that sort of height and physical presence in your team, there is something badly wrong.
I'll be interested to see what the marking is at set-pieces. Mandzukic and Godin are big threats. Chiellini will take one of them, but which Juve player is designated as the number two? Bonucci? He's big, but not a great marker (in fact, I believe it was him marking Godin when he scored against Italy at the World Cup). So I'd see the marking of Atletico's second biggest threat as an issue.
My answer might be to have Lichtsteiner mark Godin, but just with a view to blocking him rather than actually winning a header against him. Then have Llorente and Pogba strategically positioned (one at the front post and one in the middle of the goal) to be free from man-marking duties and simply focus on going and aggressively trying to win the first header to clear the ball.
Because of Atletico's threat from crosses, I may well play Evra rather than Asamoah. I believe he is better at defending the back post on crosses.
Atletico will battle away, get crosses into the box, and look to win the game with a set-piece.
Juve will look to keep the game slow, keep men behind the ball, and hope for a moment of quality from an individual to win the game.
I'm curious to see whether Allegri will look to use Juve's excellent midfield to try and dominate in that area and control the game from there or if he will be content to drop back a little and look to hold Atletico at arm's length.
And will Juve make much of an effort to prevent Atletico getting crosses in? 3-5-2 is not a good shape for doing that because of generally being outnumbered on the flanks. Having three centre-halves in the box should, of course, leave you in a good position to deal with any crosses, though.
Juve have to back themselves to defend set-pieces properly. They are going to be playing Caceres/Ogbonna, Bonucci, Chiellini, Lichtsteiner, Pogba and Llorente. If you can't defend high balls with that sort of height and physical presence in your team, there is something badly wrong.
I'll be interested to see what the marking is at set-pieces. Mandzukic and Godin are big threats. Chiellini will take one of them, but which Juve player is designated as the number two? Bonucci? He's big, but not a great marker (in fact, I believe it was him marking Godin when he scored against Italy at the World Cup). So I'd see the marking of Atletico's second biggest threat as an issue.
My answer might be to have Lichtsteiner mark Godin, but just with a view to blocking him rather than actually winning a header against him. Then have Llorente and Pogba strategically positioned (one at the front post and one in the middle of the goal) to be free from man-marking duties and simply focus on going and aggressively trying to win the first header to clear the ball.
Because of Atletico's threat from crosses, I may well play Evra rather than Asamoah. I believe he is better at defending the back post on crosses.
Massimiliano Allegri has selected a 22-man squad for tomorrow night’s Champions League Group A clash against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon.
Missing out on the trip to Madrid is Romulo, who this morning underwent successful bilateral sports hernia surgery in Monaco. The operation was performed by doctor Mushaweck in the presence of Juventus club doctor Andrea Causarano.
The 27-year-old will be discharged tomorrow and is expected to be back in action within 30 days.
Missing out on the trip to Madrid is Romulo, who this morning underwent successful bilateral sports hernia surgery in Monaco. The operation was performed by doctor Mushaweck in the presence of Juventus club doctor Andrea Causarano.
The 27-year-old will be discharged tomorrow and is expected to be back in action within 30 days.
It's also worth remembering that Juve have a big advantage in this game because of the results in the first round of games.
Juve will be happy with a point from this game and Atletico will know that they would be under huge pressure through the rest of the group if they were to lose the game and Olympiakos were to win.
This means that Juve can sit and wait for opportunities rather than feeling compelled to force things. That's not to say Juve shouldn't actively try to score, but they don't need to open the game up.
Atletico - and it may well not come until 70 minutes into the game - are going to make a serious effort to win this game to try and recover from the bad result in the opening game.
Atletico are not particularly good at chasing games and having to try and create chances against a packed defence. That is why they end up being so reliant on set-pieces to get goals in tough games.
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Would anyone be tempted to have Chiellini man-mark Mandzukic the way he has with guys like Ibrahimovic and Cavani in the past?
Or would you rather hold shape, trust Juve's defence to collectively deal with Mandzukic and focus more broadly on Atletico's various attackers rather than just trying to take Mandzukic out of the game?
Juve will be happy with a point from this game and Atletico will know that they would be under huge pressure through the rest of the group if they were to lose the game and Olympiakos were to win.
This means that Juve can sit and wait for opportunities rather than feeling compelled to force things. That's not to say Juve shouldn't actively try to score, but they don't need to open the game up.
Atletico - and it may well not come until 70 minutes into the game - are going to make a serious effort to win this game to try and recover from the bad result in the opening game.
Atletico are not particularly good at chasing games and having to try and create chances against a packed defence. That is why they end up being so reliant on set-pieces to get goals in tough games.
- - - Updated - - -
Would anyone be tempted to have Chiellini man-mark Mandzukic the way he has with guys like Ibrahimovic and Cavani in the past?
Or would you rather hold shape, trust Juve's defence to collectively deal with Mandzukic and focus more broadly on Atletico's various attackers rather than just trying to take Mandzukic out of the game?
