How are Juventus continuing to sustain their dominance?

On the verge of their sixth consecutive Serie A title and second Champions League final in three years, Juventus have been a juggernaut in Italy and Europe. What has made them so dominant?

A decade ago, Juventus were finishing up their campaign in the second tier of Italian soccer, trekking around small Italian villages to earn promotion back to the Serie A as they served their punishment following the massive corruption scandal known as Calciopoli. Those days seem like a lifetime ago, with the Italian giants utterly dominating Serie A and having just taken a decisive step to qualify for their second Champions League final in three years.

At the start of their dominance, then-manager Antonio Conte relied heavily on a 3-5-2 formation that featured Giorgio Chelini, Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci at the back, in front of legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. In part due to their shared greatness as center-backs and in part due to Conte’s insistence on putting his best XI on the field even if that meant going with an unconventional formation for those times, the 3-5-2 became intertwined with the team’s success.

Another important factor was the presence of players such as Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba, all world-class players in central midfield, and well suited to sit deep, provide support to the three man backline, collect the ball and serve as the first step in the offensive progression.

Fast forward a few years and all those remarkable center mids are plying their trade away from Turin. To a certain extent, the 3-5-2 had shown its limitations. Juventus never threatened the new European soccer elite, and while they continued to pile on domestic titles, the Serie A has lost the luster it held in the ’90s and early 2000s.

Furthermore, Juve’s success this season has owed much to their ability switch between a back three, as they used in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal against Monaco, and a back four, as they used in the quarters against Barcelona.

The steel of Arturo Vidal and the flair of Pogba have been replaced by the pace and incisiveness of the likes of Alex Sandro and Dani Alves. Both Brazilians have become integral pieces of the new Juve. Both are at their best playing wide, stretching the field and taking players on.

In the center of the field, Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira are the two central/defensive mids, complementing each other whenever one of them pushes forward. The new additions dictated a change in formation in order to fulfill and maximize the talent available. Alex Sandro became part of the back four, while Pjanic and Khedira have become a formidable duo with longtime Juve fan-favorite Claudio Marchisio on the bench.

Stephan Lichtsteiner is also a key part of the squad in the 4-2-3-1, a more classic version of the right-back than Dani Alves. To his credit, Massimiliano Allegri realized the days of Dani Alves being able to cover the entire right flank all game every game are behind him, and has often pushed the Brazilian further up the field, either as a wing-back in a 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 or as a right midfielder in a 4-2-3-1.

With the emergence of Paulo Dybala as one of the most exciting young talents in the world, Juventus have themselves a veritable talisman as their number 10. Dybala has had a spectacular season, carving up defenses with his passing and dribbling, as well as overloading the wide areas alongside Mario Mandzukic or Juan Cuadrado.

With the Champions League final looming, Juve benefit from a system that seems to maximize each player’s potential, while at the individual level everyone seems to be having career seasons. Allegri is to be commended for recognizing the systems best suited for his roster and being bold enough to toggle between the back three which had brought the Bianconeri so much success, and the newer, slightly more direct 4-2-3-1.

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The impending Champions League final, probably against Real Madrid, could be Buffon’s last chance at Europe’s biggest prize. With Juventus having comfortably defeated Barcelona and firing on all cylinders in the semifinal against Monaco, the chances to bring the trophy back after 21 years and in the process earn the legendary keeper his first Champions League title, haven’t been better since the days of Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluca Vialli.