Juventus Formation and Tactics Under Spalletti

Juventus formation — tactical board

How Juventus organise the 3-4-2-1

The shape is a 3-4-2-1: Michele Di Gregorio behind a back three of Lloyd Kelly, Gleison Bremer and Pierre Kalulu; a midfield four of Andrea Cambiaso, Khéphren Thuram, Manuel Locatelli and Weston McKennie; then Yıldız and Francisco Conceição behind Jonathan David. Each of the eleven was the most-used starter in that exact slot across the season's 3-4-2-1 matches. In possession the shape resolves into something closer to a 3-1-3-2-1, because Locatelli sits deeper than the midfielder alongside him and often drops level with the centre-backs. Out of possession it inverts: the attacking pair drops into a bank of four and the wing-backs fall in to make a five.

Width is asymmetric, and deliberately so. On the left Cambiaso holds the touchline as a genuine wing-back and overlaps Yıldız, who starts from the flank and drifts inside into the left half-space. On the right McKennie does the opposite: a central midfielder by trade, he steps into the right half-space, which leaves Conceição as the only Juventus player wide on that side and gives him the one-against-one isolation he wants. Thuram then slides left to take the touchline when Cambiaso comes inside, so the midfield four is a set of movements rather than four fixed slots.

Build-up starts short. Di Gregorio plays into the back three, a centre-back steps forward with the ball, and Locatelli drops in to offer a third passing option and turn the first line into a four. When the short route is closed, Di Gregorio goes long and diagonal to the far side, where Conceição is usually the widest player on the pitch. Pressing is triggered from the front: David steps onto the ball-side centre-back and one of the attacking pair joins him, turning the shape into a front two while the block behind it stays compact.

The tactical units

1. Goalkeeper

   On the pitch: Michele Di Gregorio

   Di Gregorio started 29 of Juventus's 38 league matches, with Mattia Perin taking the other nine, and is asked to do two jobs. The first is distribution: short into the back three to invite pressure, or a long diagonal to the far flank when the first line is blocked. The second is covering the space behind the defence, because with both wing-backs ahead of the ball only three defenders are left, and anything played over them is his to claim.

2. Back three

   On the pitch: Lloyd Kelly, Gleison Bremer, Pierre Kalulu

   Kelly on the left, Bremer in the middle and Kalulu on the right is the arrangement used most often, with Teun Koopmeiners and Federico Gatti the deputies. Kalulu started 37 of the 38 league games and was the most-used outfield player of the season. The two outside defenders are converted full-backs, Kelly having played left-back and Kalulu right-back, which is why the line slides out towards a flank rather than holding a flat three.

3. Midfield four

   On the pitch: Andrea Cambiaso, Khéphren Thuram, Manuel Locatelli, Weston McKennie

   Two of these four are wing-backs and two are central midfielders, but which is which changes inside a single possession, and these are the four used most often rather than four fixed jobs. Cambiaso holds the left flank and delivers from it. Locatelli is the deepest, screening in front of the defence and dropping between the centre-backs to progress the ball. Thuram carries and takes the left touchline when Cambiaso comes inside. McKennie is nominally the right wing-back and spends much of the game centrally.

4. Attacking pair

   On the pitch: Kenan Yıldız, Francisco Conceição

   Yıldız and Conceição are the two behind the striker, and they occupy different kinds of space. Yıldız plays in the left half-space, a playmaker by inclination and the team's leading league scorer with ten goals. Conceição, a right winger by trade, stays wide on that touchline to attack his full-back one against one. Both also lead the press, with whichever is on the ball side stepping up beside the striker.

5. Lone striker

   On the pitch: Jonathan David

   David made the most starts of Juventus's centre-forwards in his first season after joining from Lille on a free transfer, ahead of Dušan Vlahović, Loïs Openda and Jérémie Boga. He is used as a mobile reference rather than a target man: he moves into the channels to pull a centre-back out of the line, and he sets the pressing trigger by stepping onto the ball-side centre-back. Finishing was the weakness, at six league goals from twenty starts.

Key player relationships

Michele Di Gregorio → Gleison Bremer — Sweeps behind

A three-man defence that steps up to meet the ball leaves space between its last line and its goalkeeper. Di Gregorio's starting position accounts for that: he is the cover for anything clipped over the middle of the three, and he is expected to come and claim it.

Michele Di Gregorio → Francisco Conceição — Switches long to

When the short build-up is pressed, Di Gregorio skips the midfield entirely with a long diagonal to the opposite flank. Conceição, held wide on the right touchline while McKennie comes inside, is usually the free man at the end of it.

Lloyd Kelly → Andrea Cambiaso — Covers

Cambiaso is the wing-back who genuinely holds width, and when he is high the left flank behind him is empty. Kelly, a centre-back who has played left-back himself, slides across to cover it, which is why the back three so often becomes a back four when Juventus defend towards their own left.

Lloyd Kelly ↔ Gleison Bremer — Steps up with

The left pair of the three move as one. Kelly and Bremer step up together when the ball is played backwards and drop together when it is knocked over them, and the distance they keep between each other decides whether Juventus squeeze or sit.

Gleison Bremer → Manuel Locatelli — Builds play through

This is the intended first pass out of defence. Bremer steps into the space a pressing forward vacates and finds Locatelli, who has dropped in to make a fourth body in the first line. From there the ball goes forward or wide rather than back.

Pierre Kalulu → Francisco Conceição — Covers

Conceição's job is to stay high and wide, so he does not track his full-back. Kalulu takes that responsibility instead, and he is equipped for it: he started ten league games at right-back in the weeks Juventus used a back four. He defends the right channel and the space McKennie leaves by stepping inside.

Andrea Cambiaso → Kenan Yıldız — Overlaps

Yıldız takes the ball on the outside and moves in, which vacates the touchline. Cambiaso runs into it, either to receive and cross or simply to hold the full-back's attention so that Yıldız can attack the seam between centre-back and full-back.

Andrea Cambiaso ↔ Khéphren Thuram — Counterpresses with

With Cambiaso high on the touchline and Thuram drifting towards the same side of the pitch, the two are close enough to squeeze a turnover together: one presses the carrier while the other covers the pass out of the trap.

Khéphren Thuram → Jonathan David — Runs beyond

Thuram carries from midfield and runs past David, who drops or drifts wide to open the middle of the pitch for him. The shot in transition then comes from a midfielder arriving late rather than from the striker winning a race.

Manuel Locatelli → Kenan Yıldız — Frees

Locatelli's value is his passing range rather than the volume of his touches. From his deep position he plays through or over the opposition midfield into the left half-space, where Yıldız receives facing forward with the defence still retreating.

Weston McKennie ↔ Manuel Locatelli — Rotates with

This is the rotation the midfield four is built on. McKennie leaves the right flank and takes a place beside Locatelli, who slides towards the centre-backs as he arrives, so the pivot is never doubled up and the wing-back is never simply a wide passenger.

Weston McKennie → Francisco Conceição — Underlaps

Because Conceição holds the width, McKennie's forward runs go inside him rather than round him. He arrives in the right half-space between full-back and centre-back, which forces the defender to choose between following the run and staying with the winger.

Kenan Yıldız ↔ Jonathan David — Combines with

Yıldız comes off the left into the space David's movement clears, and David plays the wall pass and spins, so the two exchange the roles of runner and provider inside the same move. The pattern takes Juventus from the left half-space into the penalty area without a pass out to the flank.

Francisco Conceição ↔ Jonathan David — Presses with

The pressing trigger. When the ball goes to the ball-side centre-back, David closes it and Conceição steps up alongside him to make a front two, turning the 3-4-2-1 into a 4-4-2 that funnels the next pass towards the touchline.

Tactical strengths

• The five-man defensive block is hard to play through centrally, and Juventus conceded 34 goals across the season, the third-fewest in Serie A, with sixteen clean sheets.
• Rotations between wing-back and central midfielder mean the opposing full-back rarely has a fixed opponent to mark.
• The asymmetry gives Conceição sustained one-against-one isolation on the right while the overloads are built on the other side.
• Locatelli dropping into the first line produces a spare man in build-up against a two-forward press.
• Yıldız operating in the left half-space rather than on the touchline keeps the leading league scorer closest to goal.
• Goals came from across the side rather than one source: Juventus scored 61, the third-highest total in the division, with no player reaching eleven league goals.

Tactical weaknesses

• Twelve draws, more than any other side in the top six, turned control into dropped points, and nine of them came in matches where Juventus scored once or not at all.
• The centre-forwards did not score enough: David managed six league goals and Openda one, and the leading league scorer was Yıldız from the left rather than a striker.
• A three-man line that steps up to meet the ball can be beaten by a pass clipped in behind it, with the goalkeeper as the only cover.
• McKennie's move inside leaves the right flank to Conceição alone, and Juventus can be caught there on the counter before Kalulu slides across.
• With both attacking midfielders dropping into the bank of four, Juventus can end up defending deep with only David ahead of the ball and no outlet.

Famous tactical characteristics

A midfielder at right wing-back

McKennie is listed as the right wing-back and plays much of the game in central midfield. His league starts in 2025/26 were spread across wing-back, central midfield and attacking midfield inside the same season, which is the point of selecting him there. The consequence is a lopsided team: the right flank belongs to Conceição alone, and Locatelli adjusts his own position as McKennie arrives beside him.

Locatelli as the fourth defender

In possession the 3-4-2-1 becomes a 3-1-3-2-1, with Locatelli dropping between or just in front of the centre-backs to add a body to the build-up. That gives Juventus a spare man against a two-man press and lets a centre-back carry forward instead of passing sideways. It also means the midfield ahead of him is often only two.

Defending as a five, pressing as a two

Out of possession the team has two settings. The first is a 4-4-2, with one attacking midfielder pushing alongside David to press the centre-backs and force play wide. If that press is beaten, Juventus fold into a 5-4-1: the wing-backs drop into the defensive line and the two tens tuck into midfield, leaving a compact block with little space between the lines.

An asymmetric front line

Yıldız and Conceição are both nominally wide attackers, but they are used differently. Yıldız comes inside from the left into the half-space, where he takes the ball facing goal and where Cambiaso's overlap gives him an option outside him. Conceição stays on the right touchline. One side is built on combination, the other on isolation.

Two managers, one default shape

Tudor opened the season in the 3-4-2-1 and was sacked after eight league games had produced three wins. Spalletti kept the back three rather than redesigning the side, and it remained the most-used shape: twenty-four of the thirty-eight league matches. He was not dogmatic about it, though. Nine of his twenty-nine league games were played with a back four, Kalulu at right-back and Cambiaso at left-back.

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Related formations

• AC Milan Formation and 3-5-2 Tactics Explained

  Another Serie A back three, but feeding a strike pair rather than two attacking midfielders.

• Inter Milan Formation and 3-5-2 Tactics

  The direct Serie A comparison: a three-man defence whose wing-backs are the main source of width.

• Manchester United Formation and Carrick's Tactics

  Also builds around a lone striker fed by narrow attacking midfielders, but from a back four.

Frequently asked questions

What formation does Juventus play?

Juventus played a 3-4-2-1 in 24 of their 38 Serie A matches in 2025/26, under both Igor Tudor and Luciano Spalletti, and a back four in most of the rest. The 3-4-2-1 becomes a 4-4-2 when the team presses and a 5-4-1 when it defends deep.

Who is the Juventus manager?

Luciano Spalletti took charge on 30 October 2025, replacing Igor Tudor after eight matches without a win, and remained head coach for the following season. Spalletti had previously managed Italy and won the 2022/23 Serie A title with Napoli. Massimo Brambilla took one match as caretaker between the two.

Who plays wing-back for Juventus?

Andrea Cambiaso is the left wing-back and Weston McKennie the right one in the 3-4-2-1, and in the back-four games Cambiaso moves to left-back with Pierre Kalulu at right-back. McKennie is a central midfielder by trade and drifts inside, leaving Francisco Conceição as the width on that side.