Juventus vs. Inter: Draw Highlights Lack of Pace in Bianconeri Back Line

Juventus hosted Inter on Tuesday night, their first competitive fixture since the Super Cup loss to Napoli. With the encounter always a hotly contested affair, that only added to its significance, and it was a game the Bianconeri certainly needed to win.

Discussing his side’s approach at the pre-match press conference, Massimiliano Allegri noted the difficulty in preparing for the return to action following Serie A’s winter break. “The first game of the year is always difficult,” the coach told reporters, per Football Italia, adding that the winner “will be the one with the higher levels of attention and concentration.”

Despite the meeting eventually ending in a draw, those words would prove somewhat prophetic by the time the final whistle blew. The home side took the lead after just five minutes, Carlos Tevez turning home a cross from Arturo Vidal after some wonderful skill from the Chilean midfielder.

The goal marked the striker’s 16th of the season, adding five assists in 23 appearances, an excellent return from a player who sets a superb example for his team-mates. For large portions of the first half, the Bianconeri followed Tevez’s lead, pressing and harassing Inter into a string of mistakes and exerting almost total control on the game.

Yet they failed to capitalise on that dominance, Vidal and Paul Pogba seeing good efforts denied, and La Madama could find no way press home her advantage. Samir Handanovic also did well to deny Andrea Pirlo, the Italian legend almost curling home a superb free-kick that required a strong save from the goal keeper.

As is so often the case, she would be made to pay for such profligacy as the Nerazzurri capitalised on a lack of concentration in the Juventus defence. On 64 minutes, Allegri opted to freshen up his side by replacing Fernando Llorente with Alvaro Morata, a change made in order to create a different challenge for Roberto Mancini’s men.

Massimo Pinca/Associated Press

Just moments later, however, the Bianconeri defence would be inexplicably devoid of any shape or cohesion as Fredy Guarin picked up the ball. Patrice Evra and Giorgio Chiellini were caught too far up field for seemingly no reason, leaving Leonardo Bonucci alone to deal with Mauro Icardi.

Guarin played the ball forward as the striker ran from left to right, the Juventus defender left trailing behind as Icardi beat Gigi Buffon with a cool finish. With the scores level, Inter pressed for a winner, Lukas Podolski making his debut and Pablo Osvaldo also coming off the bench in search of a second goal.

A red card for a rash Mateo Kovacic challenge ended their hopes and the game petered out, but Mancini’s side had done enough to highlight a serious problem that blights the Bianconeri. With Martin Caceres absent, the back line simply lacks the pace to cope with a pacey attack, and Allegri must quickly address this if Juve are to enjoy any meaningful success.

All too often, Bonucci, Chiellini and Angelo Ogbonna are shown to be comparatively slow, a deficiency they often manage to neutralise with other attributes. As well as being protected by an excellent midfield, the trio are superb readers of the game, judging when and where they will be needed to neutralise attacks.

Yet when play becomes broken and opponents can attack at speed, their problems are laid bare, with even the excellent Andrea Barzagli lacking the speed to keep up with fleet-footed strikers. Caceres returned to the squad on Tuesday, and Allegri will perhaps need to call him back into action sooner than expected.

Their next fixture sees them travel to Napoli on Sunday, with Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon in blistering form for Rafael Benitez’s side. The pair have each scored nine goals, and the Partenopei added Manolo Gabbiadini this week to further bolster their attacking options.

All three possess the pace that can cause further embarrassment to Juventus by exploiting this weakness. While the club continue to be linked with the likes of Wesley Sneijder (h/t Football Italia), their most pressing problem lies further back and continues to be their Achilles heel.