Four Key Figures From Roma’s Loss to Juventus

10

If it feels like Roma always loses to Juventus on the road, that’s because, well, they do. With Sunday’s loss, Roma became the first team to lose to Juve at the Allianz Stadium (formerly the J Stadium) 10 times. The loss is the Giallorossi’s tenth loss in eleven matches against Juve at the Allianz with the only win coming in a meaningless fixture late in the 2020 restart.

Better incarnations of Roma have come to the Allianz and lost in the past decade. But, most of the time, those losses came against a Juve side that was a juggernaut. This match felt like one that the Giallorossi could come to Turin and actually get a result, though, thanks to a weakened Juve side. However, the Giallorossi were frustrated yet again. Sooner or later, Roma will have to find a way to win tough road matches like this one to get back among Italy’s elite.

Photo by Filippo Alfero - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images

29

The number of clearances by Juventus in the match. The high number of clearances speaks to the fact that Roma was the aggressor through most of the match. The Giallorossi put the Bianconeri under pressure but had trouble breaking down Juve’s low block.

Credit to the Juve defense, which was sure to get rid of any danger thrown at them. Unsurprisingly, Giorgio Chiellini led the home side with nine clearances. Conversely, Roma only had to make five clearances throughout the match.

Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images

25

The number of minutes played by Nicolo Zaniolo before he was forced off the pitch due to injury. It’s hard to say if Roma would’ve been able to get a result with Zaniolo on the pitch for the entirety of the match. However, no Roma attacker is better adapted to dealing with Juve’s low block than Zaniolo.

The 22-year-old was Roma’s most impactful player in the 20 or so minutes he was actually on the pitch. In that time, Zaniolo had 17 touches, 17 carries, three shot-creating actions, was two-for-three on dribbles and completed 9-10 passes. If weighed over 90 minutes, Zaniolo would’ve led the side in all of those categories minus the touches.

Therefore, given his ability to dribble, shoot, and use his physique to get past defenses, you’d have to think Roma’s attack might've had just enough bite to at least find a way to put one past Juve’s low block defense, especially considering Zaniolo was on his game prior to the injury.

Photo by Chris Ricco/Getty Images

23

The number of touches for Federico Chiesa. After watching him in Euro 2020 and in Juve’s recent match against Chelsea, there’s no doubting that Chiesa is Juve’s danger man and one of the most dangerous counter-attacking players in Europe. However, against Roma on Sunday, the 23-year-old Italian was anonymous.

In 70 minutes on the pitch, Roma limited Chiesa to just 23 touches. That’s 20 fewer touches than his season average of 45.2 touches per 90 minutes. In his post-match press conference, Mourinho said his goal was to kill Juve’s counterattack and credit to the players on the pitch who executed that plan. The evidence of that success is just how quiet Chiesa was.