Juventus faced Galatasaray at the Allianz Stadium in Turin for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League knockout phase playoffs; the Italian side was knocked out of the tournament after a stellar performance that saw them beat Galatasaray 3-2.
Juventus failed to qualify mainly because they received two red cards in these two encounters, which limited their abilities and made their mission much more complicated.
Despite that, it counts for them that they did not allow anyone to notice their numerical inferiority during the second leg and continued to be the better side even after the red card.
This match helped Juventus improve significantly on a psychological and personality level and in confidence.
The team indeed got knocked out, but at the same time, they learned a lot about their strengths and limitations, as well as the urgent need for a striker.
In this tactical analysis, we will look at Juventus’ attacking performance, their effective reliance on the wide areas, and what they lacked to make it to the next round.
Juventus Vs Galatasaray Lineups & Formations
Luciano Spalletti started the match in a 4-3-3 formation, with Mattia Perin as the goalkeeper and Lloyd Kelly and Federico Gatti as centre-backs.
Both Pierre Kalulu and Weston McKennie played as full-backs, with McKennie becoming a left-back in this match.
In midfield, Spalletti relied on Manuel Locatelli, Khéphren Thuram, and TeunKoopmeiners as central midfielders.
And in attack, Juventus used Kenan Yıldız as a left winger, and Francisco Conceição as a right winger, with Jonathan David being the main striker.
On the other side, Okan Buruk relied on a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Uğurcan Çakır as the goalkeeper, Roland Sallai as the right-back, Davinson Sánchez and Abdülkerim Bardakcı as centre-backs, and Ismail Jakobs as the left-back.
The midfield consisted of two central midfielders, Lucas Torreira and Mario Lemina, with Gabriel Sara as the advanced playmaker.
In attack, Galatasaray relied on both Barış Yılmaz and Noa Lang as the team’s wingers behind the main striker, Victor Osimhen.
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Juventus Striker Dilemma & Nearly Perfect Attacking Performance Based On Wide Areas
Juventus knew their mission would be complicated and that it would require a perfect performance from all the players to make the comeback.
As soon as the game kicked off, the players showed they believed in this idea, looking very determined to score and play attacking football.
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