Be careful with against Villarreal – Tactics explained

The victory of Villarreal

Villarreal beat Juventus 3-0 in the away match: the Turin side were eliminated to the 1/8 finals of the Champions League for the fourth time in a row, and Unai Emery passed this stage for the first time in his career. The match is from the category of the most difficult to parse, because the score does not reflect the content of the meeting (it does not mean at all that Juve were so good that they had to go through – it’s just more difficult than one-sided 0:3). Let’s supplement the dry result with an important context. The first noteworthy detail is the banal chronology of events. The first goal came in the 78th minute. The other two are largely a consequence of the openness that appeared in the ending (lack of time and the need to recoup). Juve helplessly leaked the segment, but not only this is important, but also how the teams ended up at such a point – that is, the events of the first 75 minutes. This brings us to the second detail – until the 75th minute there was almost no team on the field, which eventually advanced. I understand the boldness of the statement and I will try to find worthy arguments. 0 free kicks from the field at Villarreal. From the standard was formerly one – in the 29th minute after a corner, Etienne Capu made something between a discount and an unsuccessful attempt to break through. That’s all. No less egregious was the picture in defense. Juve created two clear chances and added to them Vlahovic’s hit in the frame and a lethal attack in the 14th minute (they didn’t finish it – Cuadrado and Morata didn’t figure it out). 

Understanding the idea behind the strategy of Villarreal

Jeronimo Rulli made 5 saves – three from free-kicks and another from Vlahovic’s difficult long-range shot. That is, only one was relatively simple. Wojciech Schensny, on the contrary, did not come into play.  It is even more correct to divide the match into two different halves. In the first, Juve had control, chances, and territory. In the second, Villarreal closed the sources of chances, but waited, and did not follow the victory. What could be the verdict on such a strange match? Juve are not mature enough and are not ready for different scenarios. There is logic in the relegation, but only those who saw the score, but not the match, can write about humiliation and sheer negativity. “Villarreal” deserves respect for the way they caught on to the luck of the first half and rebuilt in the second. But, perhaps, they do not deserve the abundance of compliments that they receive based on the bill. When parsing, it is the content and details that are important to us. Somewhere it correlates with the result, but somewhere it does not. Tried to write above. I urge you to treat with understanding and not to adjust the conclusions to the result, even if it is so tempting. After all, the failure of Allegri’s team fits perfectly into the narrative of the troubled Juve, which was punished in a revealing and harsh manner. Juve is undeniably problematic – but this particular match was more difficult than this cliché.