VIDEO: Llorente shows his dribbling skills / Tevez and Pogba link up for Juve's winner Jeremy Menez. Menez was coming off an incredible performance against Parma where he scored a brace, including a candidate for the goal of the season. An integral part of Pippo Inzaghi’s high-tempo side, the Frenchman was expected to be one of the few key threats in Milan’s attack. However, this was a clear step-up in competition. The Juventus midfield and defense was quick to close down on Menez and his teammates, restricting them to 40% possession, with almost 85% of that being in Milan’s own half or the middle third.
However, he did quite well to go on a lone breakaway late in the first half, only to end up taking a shot from just outside the 18-yard box straight into Buffon’s hands. Besides that one shot, Menez never really seemed to pose much of a threat for the rest of the match, until near the end when he tried in vain to earn a penalty. He was clearly their best player going forward and against a strong Bianconeri midfield and defense, his effort in getting up the pitch was admirable but unfortunately he wasn’t helped much by a listless El Shaarawy and an error prone Muntari.
Key Stats Summary:
Passes completed: 82%
Passes in attacking third: 6 out of 10 successful
Shots (On Target): 1(1)
Chances Created:
0 Goals Scored: 0 Carlos Tevez. Tevez has been in superb form since the beginning of the new campaign, having netted 3 goals in the last two games, with 2 of them coming against Malmo in the Champions League; his first goals in the competition since 2009! Juventus were clear favorites going into this match, although the facts that the new look team hadn’t faced a big-name opponent under Allegri and that they were playing against an in-form Milan team in front of a record sell-out crowd at the San Siro, had some Milan fans optimistic (maybe even too optimistic) about this clash. However, the Bianconeri shelled out a dominant performance thanks in no small part to Tevez. The graphic below makes one thing abundantly clear: El Apache has really taken to playing in a deeper position like a No. 10 should.
As a consequence of this role, he’s not always visible in advanced scoring positions. Instead he was seen almost everywhere else in the attacking third as he sought to get the midfield and the wing-backs, especially Lichtsteiner, involved in the attack. This is also evident in his passing, which is in stark contrast with Menez’s. In trademark Juventus style, his passing involved short to medium passes in Milan’s half, trying to link up with everyone and playing off of Llorente.
The following graphic also illustrates just how much of a free roaming role Tevez has and how he positioned himself to receive passes well outside the 18-yard box.
Despite a fairly average first half, he kept up his high energy movements and passing and this ultimately resulted in Tevez initiating a gritty off-balance pass to Pogba, getting up and running inside the box to receive the ball back via a beautiful pass and slotting it past Abbiati into the back of the net. After the decisive goal, he tracked back to defend the lead and wasn’t seen in the attacking third anymore. If Tevez can keep up the current rate of scoring despite playing in a trequartista-type role, he could end up bettering his tally of 19 goals from last season.
Key Stats Summary:
Passes completed: 88%
Passes in attacking third: 22 out of 26 successful
Shots (On Goal): 2(1)
Chances Created: 1
Goals Scored: 1
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Sunday, September 21 st, 2014
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