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Well, here we are again, looking at the wreckage of another frustrating Fiorentina defeat against another Scudetto contender, all the more painful since it was Juventus. At least maybe this time some patterns will start to emerge that Paulo Sousa can figure out; heck, maybe even we can gain some knowledge. The data's from WhoScored.com.
Team statistics
Shots (on goal) | Shots inside/outside area | Possession | Passes (short/long) | Passing success | Crosses/attempted | Dribbles/attempted | Aerial duels won/attempted | Tackles/attempted | Interceptions | Clearances | Fouls | Yellow/red cards | Corners | Offsides | |
Juventus | 16 (6) | 11/5 | 38% | 391 (312/52) | 79% | 9/23 | 17/23 | 12/2 | 14/27 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 3/0 | 3 | 1 |
Fiorentina | 6 (1) | 1/5 | 62% | 624 (560/59) | 87% | 0/3 | 13/19 | 10/22 | 17/34 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 5/0 | 1 | 1 |
Player statistics
Short passes/attempted | Long passes/attempted | Crosses/attempted | Touches | Shots (on target) | Shots inside/outside area | Dribbles/attempted | Possession lost | Tackles/attempted | Interceptions | Clearances | Successful aerial battles | Fouls committed/suffered | Yellow/red cards | Offsides | Saves | Goals | Assists | Minutes | |
Tatarusanu | 17/17 | 9/16 | 0/0 | 50 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0/0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
Tomovic | 70/72 | 1/4 | 0/0 | 92 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 5/7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
Gonzalo | 83/83 | 5/10 | Crosses/attempted | 104 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0/0 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
Astori | 71/77 | 1/5 | 0/0 | 91 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 2/2 | 0 | 0/1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
Bernardeschi | 31/36 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 51 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 3/5 | 3 | 2/6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
Badelj | 48/51 | 1/5 | 0/0 | 69 | 2 (0) | 0/2 | 2/2 | 3 | 3/4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
Vecino | 69/77 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 86 | 1 (0) | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0 | 0/1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85 |
Alonso | 25/35 | 5/7 | 0/2 | 56 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 2/3 | 3 | 2/4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7/0 | 1/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 84 |
Valero | 31/38 | 4/4 | 0/1 | 53 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 1/2 | 3 | 1/1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3/5 | 1/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
Ilicic | 34/41 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 55 | 3 (1) | 1/2 | 1/2 | 2 | 4/6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 85 |
Kalinic | 14/18 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 26 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 1/1 | 5 | 0/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
Pasqual | 6/8 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 9 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/1 | 1/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Fernández | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0 | 1/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Rossi | 2/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 4 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Conclusions
One can hardly blame Sousa for playing a reactive game after the early goal; a draw in Turin against the Bianconeri is a valuable point indeed. The only mistake he made was in his substitutions. It became increasingly apparent that Nikola Kalinic was completely isolated up top and unlikely to win many battles alone against three defenders; another striker would have forced Juve back more, pushing their midfield deeper and allowing the Viola midfielders more space and time to pick out dangerous forward passes. By not bringing on another forward earlier, he allowed Juventus to dictate the game, even as his squad maintained the ball. It was depressingly reminiscent of Vincenzo Montella's Fiorentina: lots of possession in unthreatening areas, but no real goal threat.
Quick thoughts: Both teams attacked mostly down their respective right sides; there was a surprising symmetry between them in the wide areas, with each using a winger and a fullback opposite each other. Ciprian Tatarusanu certainly wasn't to blame for any of the goals, but he didn't look particularly sharp on any of them either. Juve focused their attacks down their left, but Nenad Tomovic was mostly comfortable. Mati Fernández could have been useful earlier, as his ability to drive past his marker and slip in a forward would have been very useful to break the midfield press; Milan Badelj and Matias Vecino simply don't offer that. Aside from the penalty, Josip Ilicic was very quiet; a couple of rough challenges completely rattled him, evidenced by his yellow for dissent.