Spitting in the face of every cliche used to describe Serie A, the 1-1 match between Sassuolo and Juventus at the Mapei Stadium was played at a thrilling tempo and demonstrated that not even Serie A's bottom placed team is willing to sit back and absorb. On the contrary, rarely have we seen a side as courageous both tactically and physically as Eusebio Di Francesco's team.

Opting to deploy a 3-4-3 formation, their first priority was to ensure they disturbed Juve's usual style of play. That meant blocking off their favoured routes to goal. Suffocating their opponents, especially at the start of the match, Juventus had such little space to operate and no time to think, rushing their movements in order to escape their markers.

The Old Lady was suffering. The Neroverdi were working incredibly hard to press their opponent, leaving Andrea Pirlo little room to make his mark.