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Player reportSerie A 2025/26

Manuel Locatelli

Juventus
Ball-winning 6 (destroyer) DM
14.5 defensive actions/90
defensive midball-winning 6press resistancescreening
3110
minutes
36 apps
2838
passes
88% completed
88%
pass completion
2838 passes
406
progressive passes
11.7/90
501
defensive actions
14.5/90
141
tackles + interceptions
69% tackle win
180
recoveries
5.2/90
331
line-breaking passes
9.6/90
Overview

The player

Who he is and how he compares with his peers.

01

What Patterns Define Him?

His repeatable signature. A step only appears if its reliability score (sample size × match coverage) reaches at least Medium confidence — pattern mining, not anecdotes.

RECEIVE
drop between the centre-backs — mostly in the middle third (66% of his 2838 passes)
88% completion · 2838× in 36/36 matches
↓
ESCAPE PRESSURE
turn out of a tight central area
56% won · 18× in 16/36 matches
↓
PROGRESS CENTRAL
break a line through the middle
11.7 prog/90 · 331× in 36/36 matches
↓
SCREEN / WIN BALL
protect the back four
9.3 ball-wins/90 · 321× in 36/36 matches
↓
RECYCLE / PROGRESS
keep it ticking, feed the final third
12.1 f3-entries/90 · 419× in 36/36 matches
Signature: drop to receive → escape the press on the turn → progress centrally or recycle → screen the counter. Block the central lane and press his first touch to force him backwards.
19

Where is he influential — vs where is he merely present?

Red fill = raw touch territory. Gold rings = zones where his influence (xT added, progression, line-breaks, key passes) outweighs how often he's actually there — one combined map instead of two separate maps to compare by eye. Red with no ring: present but not dangerous. A ring on faint red: rare touches, outsized impact.

own goal left, attacking →
79
passes / match
14.5
def actions / 90
38–121
pass range (matches)
76
clearances
Pass range = his fewest and most passes in any single match this season (38 at the low end, 121 at the high) — a measure of match-to-match involvement, not pass distance.
In possession

In possession

What he does with the ball: build-up, progression, creation, carrying and finishing.

11

How dangerous are his carries?

Real ball-carries

606 tracked carries (17.5/90, 117 progressive, 5111m total) — the ball moving with his touches, a different signal from dribbles below (beating an opponent 1v1). even a player who rarely dribbles past a man can still carry the ball forward constantly in build-up; this is that.

1%5%11%8%2%0%2%9%21%12%3%1%4%7%10%2%
progressivelateral/short% of his 606 carries originating in each zone · own goal left, attacking →
Every carry, exact path — median 7m, longest 42m
By zone — where the carry started → where it ended
52Outside → Inside
474Inside → Inside
59Outside → Outside
21Inside → Outside
First (166)Second (154)Third (147)Fourth (139)grouped by carry pattern (start + end position), largest group first
startendown goal left, attacking →

Beaten in the tackle

How often an attacker gets past him in a 1v1 defensive duel — the closest signal the data has to "dribbled past" (no attacker-beat-defender field exists directly, so this counts tackles he attempted and lost).

102
tackle duels
70
won
32
beaten · 31%
brighter band = more tackle duels · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 57%
OUTSIDE 43%
Tackle-duel location — 58 inside · 44 outside
Right Wing
28 · 27%
Right Half-Space
17 · 17%
Central
23 · 23%
Left Half-Space
18 · 18%
Left Wing
16 · 16%
Vision AI beaten in 32 of 102 tackle duels (31% loss rate) — a solid 1v1 defensive record.
Every tackle duel, exact location
wonlost — dribbled pastown goal left, attacking →

Dribbles (1v1s)

Can he escape pressure on the ball? His carries/dribbles in tight central areas, by channel. Season rate: 0.52 dribbles attempted /90.

brighter band = more dribbles · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 72%
OUTSIDE 28%
Dribble location — 13 inside · 5 outside
Right Wing
3 · 17%
Right Half-Space
3 · 17%
Central
7 · 39%
Left Half-Space
3 · 17%
Left Wing
2 · 11%
Vision AI 72% of his carries are central — he receives and turns in congested midfield zones rather than out wide.
03

How does he build & move the ball?

How does he escape the first line?

23%
vertical passes
274×
9%
switches
101×
32%
carries
377×
36%
short circulation
422×
Answer: he escapes the press primarily through carrying — stepping out with the ball.

How he moves the ball — his 4 busiest progression routes, not where every pass starts and ends separately. Arrow width = how often, colour = xT gained, dashed = switch of play. The full breakdown is in the lane matrix below.

own goal left, attacking →
Lane transition matrix — when he receives in a lane, where does it go?
TO →RWRHSCLHSLWRW26055%14431%8012%322%4RHS64937%24226%16824%15610%633%20C85219%16219%16331%26421%17610%87LHS5315%248%4428%14930%15730%157LW2000%12%58%1738%7750%100FROM
Rows normalised: each row sums to 100% of that lane's completed passes. Grey number = passes from that lane.

Primary route: the right half-space in the middle third → the right half-space in the final third — 23 progressive passes (6% of his progression) at 0.145 xT each. He keeps it in the same lane.

His progression is inward: 45% of progressive passes move the ball toward the middle versus 14% going wider — he cuts in rather than holding width.

12% of his passes are cross-field switches — he changes the point of attack often.

Quality behind the volume: 154 line-breaking passes and 419 final-third entries, 65.6 total xT added.

Origin and destination are measured on the same event row — no receiver inference. Receiver identity is not recoverable from this data source.
All passes — origin zone share
Filter: from to
1%4%9%11%5%0%1%7%15%14%6%0%1%3%6%9%4%0%
completedincomplete2838 passes · any zone → any zone · own goal left, attacking →
2838
passes
88%
completed
346
lost
Vision AIIn line with his 88% season completion rate.
02

How does he progress play?

How much he drives the ball forward. Progressive = completed pass advancing ≥15 toward goal.

406
progressive · 11.7/90
419
final-third entries · 12.1/90
54
box entries · 1.56/90
39
progression index /90
Progression index: one composite number — progressive passes + progressive carries + 2% of total distance progressed + 8× positive xT added, all per 90. Weights VOLUME and THREAT together rather than counting progressive actions alone.
12

How does he create chances?

47 key passes (1.36/90), 0 of them assists — where his chance creation specifically comes from, 18 zones (6×3), showing his share of key passes originating there.

Chance creation — key pass origin zone share
Filter:
2%4%9%6%2%4%6%36%2%2%11%15%
chance creation (47)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
14

Can he finish?

46 shots · 2.95 xG · 1 goals (-1.95 vs xG). Mostly right-footed. Circle size = xG.

shots  46
on target  26
goals  1
xG  2.95
xG on target  3.56
xG / shot  0.064
Where he shoots from — click an area of the box
06

Where does he become vulnerable?

354 times he gave the ball away. For a defender the danger is where — a loss in his own third can turn into a chance against; higher up it costs little.

67
attacking third (cheap)
203
middle third
84
own third (dangerous)
Vision AI 19% of losses are in the attacking third — a notable share happen deeper, which invites transitions.
Mistake danger (proxy): 4.12 danger-index/90 · 0.402 avg/turnover. Weights each loss by threat conceded at that location. True xT-conceded needs the opponent possession model; positional proxy.
07

What is his passing profile?

2838
passes attempted
57%
mostly forward
47%
mostly medium
Direction
Forward
1611 · 57%
Sideways
855 · 30%
Backward
372 · 13%
Length (completed)
Short (<15m)
1085 · 44%
Medium
1159 · 47%
Long (>30m)
248 · 10%
05

Preferred Progression Routes — xT-weighted

His progressive passes as zone→zone routes, weighted by expected threat (xT) added — arrow width and the number are the total xT generated on each route, not just how often he plays it. This is where he actually moves the needle.

4.232.931.961.911.891.49
own goal left, attacking →
Highest-value routes (xT)
4.23
Right Half-Space Mid third → Right Half-Space Att third
20 passes · 2 to a shot
2.93
Right Half-Space Mid third → Right Wing Att third
24 passes · 1 to a shot
1.96
Central Mid third → Left Half-Space Att third
8 passes · 1 to a shot
1.91
Right Wing Mid third → Right Wing Att third
14 passes
1.89
Central Att third → Central Att third
7 passes · 2 to a shot
1.49
Right Half-Space Mid third → Right Wing Mid third
26 passes
09

Where Does He Receive?

The zones where Manuel Locatelli gets on the ball — his top three ball-collection areas highlighted (gold = primary). Reception is proxied by where his on-ball actions begin (no explicit receiver is recorded).

123
1 = primary, 2 = secondary, 3 = third · own goal left, attacking →
His collection zones
22%
Primary
Central, Middle third
17%
Secondary
Right Half-Space, Middle third
15%
Third
Left Half-Space, Middle third
These are the zones where he collected the ball most.
10

Where Does He Operate? — Every Zone

Every on-ball touch (pass, dribble, shot) binned into a 6×3 grid — raw counts of where Manuel Locatelli actually gets on the ball. Hover any zone for its breakdown by action type, its share of all touches, and the exact coordinate range it covers.

Filter:
2197170268124620212437409210132712726832315713
own goal left, attacking → · brighter + higher number = more touches

Passes only — completed vs incomplete, by zone

Same zone grid, restricted to passes so completed/incomplete and match filters actually mean something — a shot or a dribble has no "completed" in the pass sense.

1%4%9%11%5%0%1%7%15%14%6%0%1%3%6%9%4%0%
own goal left, attacking →
08

Every Pass This Season — completed vs incomplete

Every pass this season, plotted individually — green = completed, grey (dashed) = incomplete, gold = key pass. Filter by outcome or isolate one match below.

47Key pass
16Cross
406Progressive
331Long ball
183Switch
By zone — where the pass started → where it landed
215Outside → Inside
1340Inside → Inside
245Outside → Outside
692Inside → Outside
By direction
1611Forward
372Backward
855Sideways
own goal left, attacking →
04

Tactical patterns — how his football actually looks

Three clustered sequence diagrams from his own event data — his three busiest routes: the way he progresses, the pattern behind his chances, and where a turnover turns dangerous.

own goal left, attacking →
How does he progress the ball forward?
His most common route for progressing play: he plays straight through the right hs, advancing it forward in the middle third — 20 passes worth 4.23 xT.
Where do his chances come from?
Of 47 key passes, his busiest route is a delivery where he plays straight through the central in the final third — 8 times. The receiver isn't identifiable in this data, only where the pass started and ended.
Where does he lose the ball most?
This is a RATE, not a raw count — the share of his touches in each zone that end in a turnover, so a zone he simply plays in more often doesn't automatically look riskier. His weakest zone is the right wing in the defensive third: 33% of his 55 touches there are lost (18 times).
33%18/55 lost18%22/120 lost9%17/183 lost20%20/98 lost19%7/37 lost18%35/195 lost10%52/498 lost9%54/623 lost11%44/417 lost9%12/127 lost19%15/78 lost12%14/119 lost15%20/137 lost16%15/95 lost2%1/56 lostRWRHSCLHSLWDEFMIDATT
13

Crosses & Cutbacks

16 crosses (0.46/90, 6 completed) and 0 cutbacks (0.00/90, 0 completed) — two separate wide-delivery patterns into the box, each its own map with a completed/failed filter. Neither is a tagged event, so both are inferred from pass geometry — the intended end point of a failed attempt is still real data (an interception doesn’t erase where the ball was aimed): a cross is a pass aimed into the box starting from a wide channel; a cutback starts almost on the byline but is squared back rather than driven forward, aimed centrally around the box. The completed-cross count was checked against this platform’s own real match-level cross totals and lands within about 1 cross of the true count.

Crosses — close-up on the final third
Cutbacks — close-up on the final third
completedfailed (dashed)close-up on the box — attacking ↑ toward goal
Out of possession

Out of possession

Where and how he defends and presses.

15

How & where does he defend?

501 defensive actions across the season (14.5/90). Where he wins the ball, and how — the core question for a defender. Aerial duels are not recorded for this competition, so aerial dominance is not measured here.

click a card to isolate that action type · own goal left, attacking →
102
tackles · 69% won
39
interceptions · 1.1/90
180
recoveries · 5.2/90
76
clearances · 2.2/90
18
blocks
36
avg action height
47
won high (att 3rd)
221
middle third
233
own third
Vision AI A mid-block defender. He wins the ball mainly by stepping in — tackles, interceptions & recoveries outweigh clearances. 321 proactive ball-wins (9.3/90), tackle success 69%. He defends mostly around the middle third.
16

Can he play under pressure?

Split by how hard the opponent pressed (opponent PPDA — lower = more intense press). Can Manuel Locatelli still play out when the opponent presses high? His build-up quality split by press intensity — the key question for a ball-playing defender. Tiers of ~12-12 matches — directional evidence, not proof.

press tier
completion
prog /90
line-breaks /90
xT /90
High press (PPDA 5.7, 12m)
86%
10.0
9.2
2.13
Mid press (PPDA 8.0, 12m)
88%
11.8
10.2
2.51
Low press (PPDA 12.1, 12m)
89%
13.4
9.3
3.07
Team

Team context

How much of the team runs through him, and what changes without him.

17

Impact on the Team

Juventus's output per match with Manuel Locatelli (36 matches) versus without him (2 matches). Insufficient evidence — the without-sample is only 2 matches; treat every Δ below as noise until more games exist. What his own defending should move — goals conceded and results — leads; attacking output (largely out of a defender's hands) is shown after, for context. A proper on-off model needs many more minutes.

WITH (36)
WITHOUT (2)
Δ
goals against /match
0.83
2.00
-1.17
points /match
1.86
1.00
+0.86
goals for /match
1.58
2.00
-0.42
xG for /match
1.71
0.81
+0.91
18

His Share of the Team

Of everything Juventus produced this season, the categories where the biggest share ran through Manuel Locatelli specifically — his share of the team total, not a per-90 rate.

category
share
him / team
final-third entries
20%
494 / 2484
zone-14 entries
18%
98 / 533
threat added by passing (xT)
16%
96.2 / 586.5
Recruitment

Style and verdict

Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.

20

Playing-Style Profile

Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 258 defensive mids in the pool (min 450 min). This is what separates players who post similar numbers but play differently. Proxy dimensions are inferred from on-ball data; true off-ball running / under-pressure context is not measured.

Ball-winning 686%Deep-lying playmaker84%Tempo controller83%
Why Ball-winning 6 86%: a weighted blend of ball-winning 83 (weight 40%) + defensive aggression 67 (weight 30%) + progression 99 (weight 15%) + retention 84 (weight 15%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
Elite
line-breaking, passing directness, receiving zones, progression, through-balls, final-third threat, transition, creativity
Strong
carrying, retention, ball-winning, crossing, box threat, build-up
Average
press resistance, defensive aggression, dribbling
Weak
territory (wide vs central)
Unknown
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Line-breaking
100
Passing directness
100
Receiving zones
100
Progression
99
Through-balls ~proxy
98
Final-third threat
96
Transition ~proxy
94
Creativity
90
Carrying
85
Retention
84
Ball-winning
83
Crossing
83
Box threat
80
Build-up
70
Press resistance ~proxy
70
Defensive aggression
67
Dribbling
52
Territory (wide vs central)
15
21

Similar Players — in style space

Closest comparables measured on the style scores above, within the same position family — so it separates how players are alike, not just how much they touch the ball. Each line explains the shared strength and the divergent mechanism. A light physical-profile term (height / weight; this player: 185 cm / 75 kg) is included at a quarter of one style axis's weight — enough to break ties between stylistic twins, not to override style. Scope: pooled across the Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Premier League, percentiled within each player's own league before comparing — a match from another league is marked with its league name.

Style, not quality: a high match here means two players tend to produce the ball in similar ways — it is not a ranking, a scouting recommendation, or a claim that they are equally good.

Elliot Anderson Man City · Premier League · 179 cm / 69 kg
87%
Driven by: transition (14%), progression (10%), final-third threat (10%). Different mechanism — Locatelli more via retention, passing directness; Anderson more via territory (wide vs central), dribbling.
Cristian Cásseres Toulouse · Ligue 1 · 176 cm / 68 kg
85%
Driven by: transition (14%), creativity (13%), final-third threat (11%). Different mechanism — Locatelli more via retention, crossing; Cásseres more via territory (wide vs central).
Rodri Barcelona · La Liga · 190 cm / 90 kg
85%
Driven by: transition (13%), progression (12%), receiving zones (11%). Different mechanism — Locatelli more via passing directness, crossing.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg Marseille · Ligue 1 · 187 cm / 81 kg
85%
Driven by: transition (13%), final-third threat (10%), passing directness (9%). Different mechanism — Locatelli more via ball-winning, through-balls.
Bryan Cristante Roma · 186 cm / 80 kg
84%
Driven by: transition (19%), progression (11%), receiving zones (11%). Different mechanism — Locatelli more via retention, through-balls; Cristante more via territory (wide vs central), defensive aggression.
Youri Tielemans Man Utd · Premier League · 176 cm / 72 kg
83%
Driven by: creativity (15%), receiving zones (12%), final-third threat (12%). Different mechanism — Locatelli more via ball-winning, retention.
22

Summary

Manuel Locatelli is a ball-winning 6 / deep-lying playmaker: 88% completion, 331 line-breaks and 11.7 progressive passes /90, resisting pressure with 56% dribble success. A central controller. [Off-ball screening position and scanning need tracking data.]

Based on 36 matches (3110 minutes) this season — a reliable read. He profiles as a ball-winning 6 / deep-lying playmaker — best used in a system built around that identity. His biggest room for growth is defensive aggression — even a modest improvement there would meaningfully lift his overall ball-winning 6 profile.
✨ This report is interactive

Click any stat card to filter its map, hover a dot for the exact match, and use the dropdowns to slice passes zone-to-zone. Nothing here is static.

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