After the dominant Real Madrid run, I wanted to understand how much of that performance came from the tactic and how much depended on having elite profiles in every key position.

So I took the same Zidane 2016-17 BBC-inspired 4-3-3 to Juventus.

The first attempt was lost because of a crash, so this is the completed second run. During this season, I experimented a little more with the available players, including using Kenan Yildiz as the Deep-Lying Forward instead of Vlahović.

The result was still successful, but very different from what we produced with Real Madrid.

Season Results

🏆 Serie A winners🏆 Italian Cup winners❌ Champions League Round of 16, eliminated by Manchester City

Overall Solo-Shot Record

🎮 55 matches played✅ 40 wins🤝 5 draws❌ 10 defeats⚽ 129 goals scored🥅 57 goals conceded📈 +72 goal difference📊 72% win percentage

Every match was played.

Serie A Performance

🥇 1st place📊 90 points✅ 29 wins🤝 3 draws❌ 6 defeats⚽ 89 goals scored🥅 32 goals conceded📈 +57 goal difference

Juventus finished 12 points clear of second place and completed the domestic double.

That is clearly a strong season, but the performances were not as convincing or as consistent as they had been with Real Madrid.

Home Record

✅ 16 wins🤝 2 draws❌ 1 defeat⚽ 51 goals scored🥅 13 goals conceded

Away Record

✅ 13 wins🤝 1 draw❌ 5 defeats⚽ 38 goals scored🥅 19 goals conceded

Once again, the away performances were less reliable.

The difference was not as extreme as in some of the other solo shots, but the team lost five away league matches compared with only one at home.

Underlying League Data

Juventus finished the season with:

89.36 xG

34.79 xGA

80.53 xPTS

90 actual points

The attacking output was almost perfectly aligned with the expected numbers:

89 goals

89.36 xG

Defensively, the team conceded slightly fewer goals than expected:

32 goals conceded

34.79 xGA

The largest overperformance came in the points total, with Juventus collecting around 9.5 more points than the xPTS model suggested.

Team Statistical Profile

📊 59% average possession🎯 90% pass completion🚀 20.7 shots per game⚽ 2.3 goals per game🥅 0.8 goals conceded per game📉 0.9 xGA per game🧱 17 clean sheets💪 73.1% tackle success🔄 17.6 OPPDA

The general statistical profile remained strong.

Juventus controlled possession, generated a high number of shots and defended well enough to win the league comfortably. However, the same level of individual dominance seen at Real Madrid was missing.

Tactical Adaptation

The original structure remained the same:

Deep-Lying Forward centrally

two Wide Forwards

an attacking midfielder breaking forward

one central midfielder supporting the attack

Deep-Lying Playmaker protecting the structure

aggressive contribution from the wing-backs

The main adaptation was using Yildiz as the DLF.

Vlahović is the more natural striker, but Yildiz offered a profile closer to what the role required in this system: movement, combinations, creativity and the ability to connect with the players around him.

That decision worked.

Key Player Performances

Kenan Yildiz

⚽ 31 goals🎯 20 assists⭐ 7.42 average rating

Yildiz became the focal point of the tactic and produced the best season in the squad.

He did not recreate Mbappé’s numbers from the Real Madrid run, but expecting that level of output from a different player and a different team would not be realistic.

The DLF experiment was still one of the most successful parts of the season.

Khéphren Thuram

⚽ 25 goals🎯 16 assists⭐ 7.20 average rating

Thuram performed very well as the attacking midfielder from central midfield.

His output was excellent, but this also shows the difference between the two squads. At Real Madrid, several players were producing elite numbers simultaneously. With Juventus, more of the attacking responsibility was concentrated around Yildiz and Thuram.

Teun Koopmeiners

⚽ 12 goals🎯 13 assists⭐ 7.11 average rating

A productive season from midfield and one of the more reliable players in the system.

Francisco Conceição

⚽ 13 goals🎯 8 assists⭐ 7.02 average rating

Conceição provided useful output, but the right side never reached the level required to reproduce the original BBC dynamic.

Andrea Cambiaso

⚽ 10 goals🎯 8 assists⭐ 6.95 average rating

Cambiaso contributed, but this was one of the biggest differences compared with the Real Madrid version.

Fran García produced 12 goals and 32 assists in the previous run. Cambiaso could not provide the same level of attacking influence from the left.

Pierre Kalulu

⚽ 2 goals🎯 9 assists⭐ 7.04 average rating

A solid contribution from the right side without becoming a dominant attacking outlet.

Why the Real Madrid Version Performed Better

The Juventus run helps explain something important about tactical recreations.

A tactic can create the right spaces and movements, but the players must still have the correct qualities to exploit them.

This system needs:

an elite goalscoring wide forward

a dangerous player on the opposite side

a mobile and technical central forward

midfielders capable of contributing goals

wing-backs who can consistently create chances

defenders comfortable protecting an aggressive structure

Real Madrid had elite profiles in almost every one of those positions.

Juventus had good players, but not the same combination of speed, creativity, finishing and individual quality.

The clearest issue was the right wing. In the original Zidane structure, that position represents the Cristiano Ronaldo profile. It requires a player capable of producing elite numbers rather than simply maintaining width or helping the build-up.

Juventus did not have that profile.

Final Verdict

This was not a failed solo shot.

Juventus won:

🏆 Serie A🏆 Italian Cup

The team collected 90 league points, scored 129 goals in all competitions and finished with a 72% win rate.

However, it was also clear that the tactic did not reach the same level as it had with Real Madrid.

The system remains very enjoyable to watch, but it shines most when the squad contains elite profiles in the decisive positions.

That does not mean every player must be a superstar. It means the characteristics of the players must match what the roles are asking them to do.

The Real Madrid run showed the ceiling of the tactic.

The Juventus run showed its requirements.

Package Contents

📁 FM26 tactic file💾 Juventus save-game file🖼️ Complete screenshot pack🎥 TI and PI mini-video for console players