D'Aversa vs Zanetti: Serie A Coaches' Challenge with History of Confrontations

After having crossed paths three times in the heart of midfield as players, on Sunday evening Roberto D'Aversa e Paul Zanetti will face each other for the third time since they began their careers as coaches. The responses on the green rectangle have rewarded Zanetti twice, winner 1-0 in the 2002-'03 season with the Vicenza when the current Italian coach wore the jersey of Ternana, and 2-1 with theAscoli in 2006-'07 when D'Aversa played in the MessinaThe latter instead prevailed in an Ascoli-Siena, also in 2006-'07, after having moved to the club from the city of the Palio.

As for his previous experiences on the bench, in addition to the clear 4-1 victory for the Azzurri in the first leg at the Bentegodi, D'Aversa has also remained unbeaten when leading the Sampdoria drew 1-1 at the Marassi against Venice of Zanetti in the 2021-'22 season. Very similar the average-points of the two in Serie A with D'Aversa slightly ahead: 0,94 points per game against the 0,88 of his colleague who so far boasts 112 benches in the top Italian championship with 24 victories and 61 defeats, against the 185 of the coach from Abruzzo, of which 41 victories and 93 defeats.

As for the way Zanetti plays, 42 games and one salvation with theEmpoli, had started with the 3-4-3 alternating with the same Azzurri module, namely the 3-4-2-1, before launching the four-man defense at the end of September, then designing a midfield of two and three attacking midfielders behind a single striker. Solution set aside again in December after conceding 18 goals in 7 games, to return to a three-man defense and two strikers with alternating a five-man midfield or an attacking midfielder behind the two forwards. The arrangement adopted, the one with the playmaker, in the last two games drawn against Lecce and Como.

D'Aversa, on the other hand, aside from the variations in the construction phase, and some sporadic switches to 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 during the match, has constantly worked on the 3-4-2-1, which has had as its main variation the use of a central striker on the move to take away points of reference from the opponents or one more skilled in the aerial game and in attacking the depth.

Yes. There.