Juventus and AC Milan trudge through another goalless draw

For the second time in as many meetings this season, Juventus and Milan were unable to score a goal and ended up sharing the points.

Games between old hands like Luciano Spalletti and Massimiliano Allegri will always be highly tactical affairs.

Of course, those tactics tend to be diametrically opposed. Between Spalletti’s attacking innovation and Allegri’s defend-at-all-costs approach, it’s always interesting to see how the two would work to get the advantage over each other.

It’s been hard for Juventus and AC Milan to gain an advantage over each other the last few years. Three of the last four games against each other had ended in goalless draws, including their first game this year at the Allianz. The return at this critical juncture of the season was heavy with meaning. Milan’s recent breakdown in form had allowed Juve to pull up three points behind them. A victory would’ve seen them pull past them into third on the head-to-head tiebreaker and keep the distance between Roma and Como at five.

But that tendency to cancel each other came back out again. Both sides had their chances — Juve hit the target with five of their 10 shots and had a goal called back, Milan saw Alexis Saelemaekers slam a ball off the crossbar—but in the end, neither team had the push to get the ball over the other’s goal line. With the results earlier in the weekend, Juve finished three points above the chasing pack and still in control of their own destiny in the race for the top four with four games to go.

Spalletti got Dusan Vlahovic back to the bench after yet another injury stop, but Kenan Yildiz was still only fit for sub appearances, and Arkadiusz Milik and Juan Cabal were out. Spalletti named a strong 3-4-2-1 lineup, with Michele Di Gregorio at its base. Pierre Kalulu, Bremer, and Lloyd Kelly made up the back three, while Weston McKennie and Andrea Cambiaso started as wing-backs. Former Milan prospect Manuel Locatelli joined Khéphren Thuram in midfield, while Francisco Conceição and Jérémie Boga supported Jonathan David in attack.

Allegri wasn’t missing many to injuries, although Davide Bartesaghi started despite not being 100 percent. The 3-5-2 that has become his staple remained, however ill-fitting some of his players were for it. Mike Maignan started in goal behind the defensive trio of Matteo Gabbia, Strahinja Pavlovic, and Fikayo Tomori. Bartesaghi joined Saelemaekers out on the wings, while Adrien Rabiot, Luka Modric, and Youssouf Fofana ran the midfield. Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leão started together as an unconventional strike pair.