GettyImagesMartin Caceres scores in the 2-0 win for Juventus.

"A Juve too much" screamed the headline of Sunday morning's Corriere dello Sport whilst Paul Pogba graced the front cover of the Gazzetto dello Sport, whose headline read "All Juve". Bianconeri coaches Antonio Conte and Angelo Alessio may have won the tactical battle but the Juventus squad won the mental war proving their superior psychological power over the Neapolitans who would have settled for a draw.

As a game heavily based on tactical match-ups, this wasn't a match that palpitated the heart but one that frustrated the viewer who saw a flooded midfield and players focused solely on neutralising their opponents. For much of the game, the affair was cagey and rather fearful, the formations were the same but the approach to football was entirely different. Whilst Napoli maintained their usual deep positioning on the field in preparation for swift counter-attacks, the Old Lady focused on playing the ball out from the back and creating passages of play to pierce through the defence. Yet neither approach was well defined in a match that saw players tangled up with one another in the centre of the pitch.

- Late goals extend Juve run

Shots on target were hard to come by as Walter Mazzarri's Napoli managed only one throughout the entire night. It was a statistic no one saw coming considering the wealth of talent available in the Neapolitan attack but for this, we must compliment Conte's tactics.

Napoli focused on stopping Andrea Pirlo's efficiency and sacrificed Marek Hamsik to the cause in hopes of stifling Juventus. This served to hurt them more than it hurt the Bianconeri as without him and with Gokhan Inler and Valon Behrami busy providing the defensive shield, Napoli's attack was not allowed to exercise their verticality or string together the necessary passes that usually allows them to push forward and counter.

If ever there was a player who epitomised Conte's mentality then it's none other than Leonardo Bonucci. The personification of desire, not even a violent injury to his knee could stop him from making the desired impact necessary to maintain a solid defensive unit that kept the away side's attacking stars at bay. A usual target for the critics, Bonucci is key to Conte's tactics in that Juventus require a visionary and a man adept at ball playing in each of their departments.

Whilst the midfielders fought each other and Edinson Cavani and Goran Pandev were effectively closed down by his fellow defenders, Bonucci had the time to play an almost Pirlo like role and helped dictate the pace of the game. His long balls proved accurate and offered another attacking option even if it is perceived to be the strategy that goes against Conte's teachings.

His vision and handling of the ball is necessary to Juve's tactics and the reason why the coach opts to replace him with the likes of Luca Marrone, a midfielder renowned for his passing skills. Juventus need these types of personnel to inspire creativity in every area of the pitch.

With a congested central midfield, both sides opted to push on the flanks... well the one flank. Napoli pushed on the right whilst Juve did so with their left making for exciting viewing as Kwadwo Asamoah took on Christian Maggio. The former was superb and interpreted his role well as he provided the tackles necessary to stifle Napoli's passages of play early as well as staying close to Maggio, watching his every move.

In attack, he offered Juve a vertical edge with his constant dribbling and provided the contributions needed to busy the opposing defenders. His only flaw was the regularity with which the Azzurri dispossessed him.

Conte's men remained compact and offered their opponents little space to work with to ensure no concessions were made with Claudio Marchisio playing a particularly impressive game as he shored up the defence in addition to making his well timed forward runs.

When Napoli began to play for the draw, accepting their own inability to penetrate, Juventus made the necessary substitutions to change the face of the game. Alessandro Matri came on to stretch the opponents, Martin Caceres took his place in the box, when Asamoah before him didn't, leading to a goal. Pogba finished off the match with a powerful volley that made the most of the player's renowned technique.

Alessio rightly directed his celebrations at Conte who sat behind the glass with a sly smile as he won the battle despite the loss of Mirko Vucinic and Gianluigi Buffon. How the man continues to tactically outwit his counterpart makes him the most feared man in Italian football, so much so that one hour prior to the match, Napoli asked the FIGC officials to investigate whether or not there were any secret tunnels Conte could use to reach the dressing room. Nothing was found and the banished Coach continues to make the difference despite his absence on the sideline.

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