Al Ain v Juventus: Scout report | OneFootball

Our next two Group G Club World Cup opponents met in Washington in the early hours of Thursday morning, with the Italian giants triumphing 5-0 at Audi Field.

Watched by a crowd of 18,161 fans, it turned out to be a surprisingly comfortable win for Juve.

Here’s what we learned…

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Juventus bossed the game

With 63.6% of the possession, Juventus dominated the clash for long periods.

The Serie A side had 16 shots to Al Ain’s 9, but percentage wise, the Abu Dhabi side were more accurate with their quota, with five on target to Juve’s seven.

With a total of 32, Juventus had three times as many touches in the Al Ain box as their opponents did (11) in theirs.

Overall, it was a fairly problem free game for the Old Lady.

Juventus mean business

Juventus are not here to make up the numbers and the competitive aspect of this game backs that up.

Juve might have lost the tackles count by 17-16, but they won their tackles by 13-8.

The Italians also committed almost three times as many fouls (14-5) and picked up four yellow cards as a result.

Al Ain did manage to win more duels in the contest – 45-36 – but it did little in the context of the game.

Main threats

One of the outstanding features of this game was the passing range of Khéphren Thuram – son of French legend Lilian and brother of Inter striker Marcus.

He claimed two assists with excellent passes and the defensive midfielder looks a threat with his accurate balls opening up the Al Ain defence on a number of occasions.

It’s also no secret that Portuguese livewire Francisco Conceição is a danger to any defence.

The 22-year-old winger – on loan from Porto - looks a genuine handful, and his two well-taken goals will serve as warning for the City defenders he is likely to face next week.

For Al Ain, the prolific Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba came closest to scoring against Juventus.

The Togolese striker has scored 140 goals in 173 appearances for the UAE Pro League outfit and produced one thunderous shot that keeper Di Gregorio did well to keep out.

Formations

Al Ain’s 5-3-2 formation was ruthlessly exposed by Juventus on a number of occasions.

If the intention was to stifle the Italians with bodies in the box, it failed, and the Abu Dhabi side were caught on the counter several times.

Juventus used a fluid and effective 3-4-3 formation with Andrea Cambiasso and Alberto Costa patrolling the flanks.

Croatian boss Igor Tudor is likely to continue this formation against City.

Goal difference could be decisive

With the potential of meeting Real Madrid for the Group G runners-up – should the Spaniards win their group - goal difference is likely to be crucial.

Juventus already have a +3 head start on the Blues and should both sides go into the final group clash on level points, a draw would be good enough for the side with the best goal difference to progress as winners.

City will need to look for goals against Al Ain and go into the clash with the Bianconeri  with our destiny in our own hands.