Upon their return from the international break, Juventus triumphed to a 2-1 win over an impressive Bologna side that has been catching the eyes of many pundits and analysts alike so far in Serie A this season.
Before the game, it was hard to predict just quite how this game would go with Bologna, statistically leading the league in xP (expected points) after boasting the second-best xG (expected goals) in the league, at 15.4 (Juventus ranking only 9th in this statistic, with 11.26). Both sides returned from their international duties to put out rotated lineups and in the end, the quality of depth in Juve’s squad helped to overpower the away side.
This tactical analysis piece will examine the tactics used during this featured clash and our analysis will highlight where both teams enjoyed success and experienced failure within this match.
Lineups
After a number of key players returned from their travels, Maurizio Sarri opted to rotate several of his starting players. As the likes of Paulo Dybala, Blaise Matuidi and Aaron Ramsey either dropped to the bench or out of the squad entirely, there were rare starts for players like Fernando Bernadeschi and Adrian Rabiot. Sarri otherwise continued with his new 4-3-1-2 formation.
Bologna were unfortunately without the thriving Takehiro Tomiyasu at right-back as well as the ferocious Gary Medel in midfield. In their places, Ibrahim Mbaye and Mattias Svanberg, adopted the starting roles. Bologna also stuck with their current formation, the 4-2-3-1.
To read the full tactical analysis of this match – click here
If you love tactical analysis, then you’ll love the digital magazines from totalfootballanalysis.com – a guaranteed 100+ pages of pure tactical analysis covering topics from the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and many, many more. Buy your copy of the October issue for just ₤4.99 here
