Yahoo Sports Thiago Motta: ‘Juventus face Aston Villa similar to Milan’ tactical plan
Thiago Motta explains how Timothy Weah will interpret the role of striker in a different way for Juventus and why Aston Villa have a ‘similar’ attacking style to Milan.
It kicks off at Villa Park at 20.00 GMT.
It is safe to say the Bianconeri would’ve hoped to come to Birmingham in different circumstances, as the squad is decimated by injuries, missing Dusan Vlahovic, Weston McKennie, Arkadiusz Milik, Nico Gonzalez, Vasilije Adzic, Gleison Bremer, Juan Cabal and former Aston Villa star Douglas Luiz.
Thiago Motta forced into Juventus choices
“This is the perfect atmosphere for playing football,” Thiago Motta told Sky Sport Italia.
“I repeat what I said before the game, we all have to face a situation like this by giving our all and helping the team. I have total faith that this is what they will do.”
In the absence of any other forwards, Weah has to be used as a makeshift False 9 in Birmingham.
“Tim is certainly a player who can run into space, is really fast, but has also played as a right-back, so he can tell what the team needs at that moment. We must not open up spaces between the lines, as Aston Villa can make the most of those.
“Tim can be valuable both when we are attacking and defending this evening.”
Juventus and Milan were both criticised for a dismal 0-0 draw at San Siro at the weekend, a game with hardly any real scoring opportunities, but Thiago Motta hints he would gladly accept a similar approach this evening.
“Our performance at San Siro was what we needed at that time, to get solid and not give space to Reijnders, Loftus-Cheek or Pulisic. When you attack vertically, you need to be careful against teams like that, because when you open up the spaces, that plays to their strengths. We need to run forward fast, but get back fast too,” added Thiago Motta.
“Aston Villa are similar to Milan, they flourish in transitions, winning it back and immediately going on the counter, getting into the penalty area with two or three passes. We need to be really on point with the preventative marking to close those opportunities.”
