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What Juventus have learned from Spurs' defeat against Man City

What Juventus have learned from Spurs' defeat against Man City

As the Etihad Stadium in Manchester took a mighty battering of rain on Saturday evening, if there was anything else that had taken a more prominent battering, then it was Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur. While it is very unlike Tottenham to take a 4-1 hammering these days, Manchester City had given a full account of themselves to whoever was talking of how Spurs would halt City's winning run in the Premier League.
Spurs never looked like getting away from the game since the offset and City fittingly proved why they are 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Apart from the Premier League teams, fans and the neutral audience, if there was anyone who would have been viewing the game with more interest than either sets of fans, then it would have been Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri. What he learnt from the Lilywhites' hammering on Saturday may well come in handy for the Old Lady when they take on Spurs in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

It is obvious that no team in the world would dominate as much possession and the game as much as City, but Allegri would have learnt of the fact that the Spurs high- pressing style doesn't neccessarily help them in making sure that they don't leave spaces in behind. The approach that Spurs took to against City was brave, but backfired.

They looked to press high up the pitch and looked to build from the back everytime they had the ball. They left Harry Kane and Dele Alli up front while defending, playing the game into City's hands. City's panache on the ball and Ederson's impeccable ability to pick out mind-boggling passes from way out meant that Spurs were left at a disadvantage whenever City nullified the press by either being good on the ball or by bringing extra numbers into the midfield.

They left spaces in behind whenever they pressed, allowing Kevin de Bruyne to play in the spaces between the Spurs defense and midfield. It seemed as if Spurs were lucky to have let in only once before half-time, despite allowing City numerous attempts to score more. Spurs' midfield got overrun emphatically due to the aforementioned reasons and the defense, which was without the very influential Toby Alderweireld, was no match for City's panache. Juventus played out a similar game against Napoli three weeks ago, when they were being pressed high up the pitch by the likes of Jose Callejon, Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens, but their good passing in the defensive third allowed them to catch Napoli when Maurizio Sarri's men had left too much space while pressing.

Before City's rise to prominence, Spurs were known to be the side that played the best bit of football in the Premier League, but that is often found wanting in the big games as they end up leaving gaps and concede cheap goals. And seeing one of the best defenses in Europe over the past two seasons concede four times is a rarity indeed. It is obvious that Juve can't match City's tactics and style of play, but the manner in which City overran the Spurs midfield and nullified their press is something Allegri can learn from.

Gonzalo Higuain, who scored in that game against Napoli, can be entrusted with the task of dropping deep to add more numbers to the midfield and Paulo Dybala can be handed the job of using the space that Spurs will leave between their defense and midfield. It is certainly easier said than done, but Juventus will obviously be licking their lips at the prospect of beating Pochettino's men in February.

@TheFootyMad