Juventus’ BBC is even more dominant than Real Madrid… a look at the Old Lady defence that has taken them to the brink of Champions League final

A LOT has changed since Juventus last conceded a Champions League goal.

Their shut out in the semi-final first leg at Monaco means they’ve now gone 621 minutes without letting in a goal in Europe’s premier club competition.

Football Whispers analyses their great defence.

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It was meant to be the immovable force meeting the unstoppable attack, but Juventus brushed aside Monaco 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

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And they looked pretty impressive going forward too, with Gonzalo Higuain’s opener a candidate for one of the goals of the season.

Monaco had scored 21 Champions League goals this season going into the game, while Juventus had conceded just two.

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Monaco had scored in every match at the Stade Louis II since November 2015.

But Juventus stopped Leonardo Jardim’s side and set a new club record, having kept six consecutive Champions League clean sheets for the first time in their history.

The last time they let in a goal in Europe was against Sevilla on November 22, when Nico Pareja fired past Gianluigi Buffon.

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Sevilla’s Nico Pareja was the last player to score past Gianluigi Buffon in the Champions League, back in November[/caption]

A lot has changed in the world since then, Barack Obama was still US president, Manchester United were sat in sixth in the Premier League and the footballing world wasn’t fully aware of Kylian Mbappe – he was an unused substitute as Monaco beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1.

Since then, Juventus have faced Monaco, Porto and Barcelona twice, but no-one has managed to pass the legendary Buffon.

In fact, in eight of his ten Champions League matches so far this season, Buffon has kept a clean sheet.

He’s only conceded twice – the other goal was against Lyon.

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Gianluigi Buffon’s penalty save from Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette ensured the Italian champions would only concede twice in the group stages[/caption]

And in Juventus’ other game of their European campaign, against Dinamo Zagreb, his stand-in Neto also kept the opposition out.

But you can’t say their good form defensively is down to just one person, or even a set defence.

In fact this season, boss Max Allegri has picked Dani Alves, Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro, Daniele Rugani, Leonardo Bonucci, Patrice Evra, Medhi Benatia, Andrea Barzagli, Kwadwo Asamoah and Stephan Lichtsteiner in defence.

And it’s not been a set formation either.

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Dani Alves and Alex Sandro have been deployed in both a four-man defence and as wing backs when the Old Lady revert to a three at the back[/caption]

Juve have switched between four at the back, which they have used on six occasions, including against Monaco, to three at the back, which they have employed for the other five matches.

It’s summed up best by Chiellini, who recognises that it’s a team effort, not just that of the defence.

“The number of goals conceded is relative,” he said back in March.

“Sometimes we’ve had luck. Against Lyon for example, we could have conceded one or two more goals. It comes down to a few centimetres.

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The indomitable Giorgio Chiellini has been a key part of Juventus’ stunning defensive record[/caption]

“What’s certain is that Juve have managed to evolve in a very compact way, remaining very balanced and very solid.

“Obviously at the back we’ve been playing together for years, for our club and for the national team. There’s a symbiosis between us [him, Bonucci, Barzagli and Buffon].

“It’s not just limited to two or three defenders and a goalkeeper though, there’s a symbiosis with the whole team.

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Juve’s defensive efforts are helped by a collective job spread through the team[/caption]

“The efforts of each player makes it possible to reduce the gap between each position, to be more compact.

“We have crazy work rate on the flanks, both offensive and defensively, and midfielders who guarantee the balance of our team.

“If we don’t concede many goals, it’s a collective success.”

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Max Allegri is set to guide his Juventus side to the Champions League Final for the second time in three years[/caption]

Put simply, they’re just a very good team, whoever plays and whatever formation is employed.

There are not any notable statistics either in terms of their defensive work.

In terms of tackles per game, so far throughout the competition, I Bianconeri have made an average of 17.6.

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Only nine teams average fewer, while six teams average fewer than Juve’s 13.3 interceptions per game.

They are also ranked towards the bottom in terms of clearances made, averaging 19 – 10 teams make fewer and 21 teams have made more.

The Juventus goal isn’t particularly busy – with Buffon and Neto averaging 1.9 saves per game.

The lowest in the Champions League has been Napoli with 1.4, while the highest was Dinamo Zagreb with 5.7.

Put simply, Juventus are just a very good team, not just a very good defensive team.

They average 55.1 per cent possession and are having 14.2 efforts per game, which isn’t bad when you consider down the other end the goalkeeper only has to make 1.9 saves each match.

If you think of Chelsea this season, they don’t tend to top any statistics, but they are just highly effective at being a top team.

And that’s what Juventus are too.

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Speaking after their 2-0 semi-final first leg win, Monaco boss Jardim recognised that too.

“The effectiveness of Juventus and the judgments of Buffon made the difference tonight. Unluckily for us he made two or three incredible stops,” he said.

“Their efficiency also made the difference. We didn't put away our chances tonight.”

And given Juventus’ record so far in the Champions League, it would take one of the greatest ever European performances for Monaco to reach the final.