JUVENTUS v AC MILAN: OPPONENT REVIEW | OneFootball

The first true crash-test was passed with flying colours: AC Milan beat Napoli at San Siro in a game of two different halves, vertical and incisive in the first and then camping in defence in the second due to being a man down. Two faces of the same AC Milan, capable of entertaining and then suffering in order to save the result. With the international break on the horizon, Massimiliano Allegri's side is awaiting another big clash. Igor Tudor's Juventus side awaits us for Serie A matchday 6, a match to kick off our October.

The two sides come into the clash with just one point separating them in the league, in our favour: AC Milan on 12 points with Juventus on 11. After a scintillating start, three wins from three including a 4-3 win over Inter, the Bianconeri have stalled in their last two games: two 1-1 draws against Hellas Verona and Atalanta. Furthermore, they drew in the Champions League (4-4 against Borussia Dortmund and 2-2 against Villarreal).

JUVENTUS DIFFICULT TO BEAT Juventus are unbeaten following the start of the season, three wins and four draws in seven outings, proving to be a very difficult team to beat. In the 2024/25 season, with Thiago Motta in the dugout, before Tudor's arrival at the end of March, their first defeat of the season came in late October after eleven matches, the first in Serie A was on matchday 22 against Napoli (25 January). Not always shining, not always efficient, probably still search for their own recognisable identity, but always ready to fight and never wanting to give up. As stated, the trend being confirmed this season, is that the Bianconeri have found an attacking fluidity that seemed to be lacking last season.

The Bianconeri score a lot of goals, and they've done so in every match so far: 15 goals in seven matches, more than two on average, with the most coming in recent weeks in the matches against Inter and Borussia Dortmund. They tend to score late in games: seven goals this season have been scored between the 76th and 90th minute. Vlahović has rediscovered his scoring form (four goals this season), which has come alongside an overhaul of the attacking department with the arrivals of Jonathan David, Loïs Openda and Eden Zhegrova. The defenders have also contributed: Kelly (two goals), Gatti and Cabal have found themselves on the scoresheet. At the same time, however, the Bianocneri have conceded more goals than expected in this month and a half: eleven in 15 matches (five in Serie A, six in UCL).

YILDIZ, CONCEIÇÃO AND ZHEGROVA: THE GAME-CHANGERS The 3-4-2-1 formation adopted, until now, by Tudor, with the only exception being the 3-5-1-1 in the match against Inter, relies a lot on the strength of the playmakers. The three players cited in the title have the abilities to change any game. The Turkish international doesn't seem to feel the weight of the Number 10 shirt, and has begun this season very well, scoring in the Champions League and Serie A. His impact is clear, but the Bianconeri's attacking successes are also down to Conceição's contributions, thanks to goals against Verona and Villarreal. His entry into the game, at Estadio de la Cerámica in the Champions League, gave the Bianconeri the right impetus to momentarily fight back from 1-0 to 1-2 in the match.

Juventus have plenty of options to call upon, to adjust their approach over the course of 90 minutes. One example is Eden Zhegrova, rested against Villarreal (as were Bremer, Di Gregorio, and Thuram), who is regaining top form and has always come off the bench so far, proving he has the right tools to unlock tight matches. Not to forget two other important players: Loïs Openda, capable of playing both as a forward but also in a supporting role, and Vasilije Adžić, decisive off the bench scoring the winning goal in the 4–3 against Inter. Up front, the rotation between the ever-dangerous David and Vlahović provides another intriguing test.

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