Allegri taught Spalletti a tactical lesson tonight:
1. Suffocate: Allegri strangled Inter's right flank (which is where most of Inter's attacks originate) by putting in 3 levels of brute walls there (Mandzukic, Matuidi & Asamoah) which made Candreva & D'Ambrosio redundant in attack.
2. Dominate: Allegri started 3 physical midfielders to dominate the middle. Juve were first to almost all the 50-50 balls in the midfield. The sheer physical intensity of Matuidi and Khedira was too much for Inter's midfield to match.
3. Attack: He started Cuadrado to exploit Inter's defensive achilles heel (Santon). Cuadrado got behind Santon at every opportunity, it was almost like Santon didn't exist. Cuadrado was clearly instructed to send in long crosses by design. Higuain would then move in between Skriniar & D'Ambrosio, pulling Dumbo to him. The crosses almost always went over Dumbo where Mandzukic was waiting. This was clearly rehearsed, and if Mandzukic had slightly better balance and finishing, he could have scored a hat-trick tonight.
This was the reason why Mandzukic & Cuadrado started over Dybala and Costa. This also explains why Juve started with an extra midfielder instead of the 3rd CB. I won't blame Spalletti too much though. Inter just don't have the quality bench to change tactics drastically. There are no DMs. Maybe Spalletti should have started Gags instead of Candreva, but I suspect the result would have been the same.
Inter were lucky to escape with a draw. And a draw at Turin is very creditable. Now Inter need to win the next 2 games. My biggest worry is that the above is a good blueprint of how to stop this Inter. I expect other clubs to copy these tactics to whatever extent they can.