Vidal Finally Get a Chance to Shine on Biggest Stage

When Juventus managed to secure the service of 24 year-old Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal for just €10.5m from Bayer Leverkusen in 2011, most of the footballing world were stuck ogling Manchester City’s and Barcelona’s shiny new recruits. However, for football hipsters and experts alike, it was a shocking figure; one that prompted German football expert Raphael Honigstein to tweet: “Arturo Vidal to Juve for €10.5m – €12m. Absolute steal.”

The statement was as simplistic as it was true: for four years Vidal had been the model of consistency for Leverkusen, culminating in a magnificent final season in which, nominally playing defensive midfielder (though trying to assign him a true position is one of the more futile task known to mankind), he drove Bayer to a 2^nd place finish, leading the team in assists with 11. Due to the Bundesliga’s relatively under-the-radar status at the time, following nearly a decade in the doldrums, Vidal was a near unknown to the football’s general public; which may have helped contribute to his relatively meagre fee.

Upon arriving in Italy, Vidal set about performing the same act he’d won over experts in Germany with; providing endless, incessant, relentless energy and drive, ably complimented with impressive technique and composure on the ball. Since his arrival, Juventus have won Serie A four consecutive season (including this season, which they wrapped up on the weekend thanks to a Vidal header), with the Chilean spearheading this unprecedented dominance. However, until Tuesday’s semi-final clash he hadn’t had a chance to show his considerable talents on the big stage of European football. Sure he’s been to the quarter finals in the 2012/13 season, but with Juventus’ ties against Bayern (who they lost to 4-0 on aggregate) were both tepid affairs and, more importantly, the same days as Barcelona against PSG, so really no one was watching. This was different though; The Champions League semifinal, against the biggest club in world football with the entire footballing world descending on Juventus stadium in anticipation.

Vidal doesn’t tend to dominate games in a traditional way from midfield, he doesn’t fit the pace setting, pass master mould (popularised by one of his more famous teammates no less) nor the bullish, super athletic powerhouse mould embodied by the likes of Patrick Viera. Instead, Vidal dominates through the sheer number of things he can do, his style of play Wikipedia entry reads like the list of attributes of a FIFA creation with his mixture of mental, physical and technical gifts making him pretty comfortably the most complete (and probably best) central midfielder in world football.

Interestingly, this season has been his most inconsistent since he arrived in Europe (even being outshone early in the season by Roma’s own pyromaniac/midfielder Radja Nainggolan), with post World Cup knee surgery completely wiping out his preseason, it took his a while to rediscover his typical destroyer of worlds form. In addition, the role he returned to was slightly more restricted than the one he left; with Paul Pogba becoming the focal point of the team, Vidal was asked to play in a number of different positions to try to get the best out of the super-talented Frenchman.

While Vidal has grappled with his new remit, Juventus have enjoyed their best season since the early 2000s streaking away with the Serie A title while methodically working their way into the Champions League semis. Though of course, as the saying goes, form is temporary but class (and the supernova that Vidal draws his energy from) is permanent and it the past couple of months Vidal has returned to his world beating best, perhaps not coincidentally just as Paul Pogba has spent time out injured, meaning that he firing on all cylinders coming into Tuesday’s game.

In was crucial for the Old Lady that he was; with Pogba unavailable, and manager Max Allegri going with a four man midfield (albeit a fairly narrow, compact one) and just Pirlo and Vidal in the middle, the Chilean’s responsibilities increase significantly. You wouldn’t have known it from his play though. While he and Pirlo enjoyed a fruitful symbiotic relationship in the middle of the park: Vidal supplying the energy and pressuring Madrid in their own half, Pirlo anchoring the midfield, providing an important point of reference for Vidal to get back into position once Madrid shook of the initial pressure.

The fluidity of Vidal’s positioning and movement throughout the match was extraordinary, in the first half working mainly on the right, while also switching with Tevez at times in attack, allowing him to make runs in behind Real’s midfield and centre backs, pulling defenders out of position and thus creating space and time for the likes of Pirlo and Marchisio. In defence he constantly pressed Toni Kroos high up the pitch, harrying the German World Cup winner into simple, sideways passes instead of the sweeping, defence splitting quality he is capable of. In the second half, particularly after Allegri switched to a back five and a three man midfield, Vidal pulled out to the left, playing almost as a left winger at times while also being the target of numerous long goal kicks from Buffon, winning flick ons against the likes of Carvajal and Pepe on several occasions. Additionally, when Juventus were defending in their final third, Vidal dropped back in between Pirlo and Marchisio, assuming a true defensive midfield role, a position from which he made more than a few key tackles and blocks late on.

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However, while he had some eye catching moments of his own, it is in the little jobs (the 1-2%ers if you like) that Vidal shows his true greatness. In the 40^th minute, with Juventus under as much pressure as they were all night, Chiellini misplaced a pass to Evra on the left wing, with the ball going out for a throw in just inside Real’s half. Keen to take a quick throw in and potentially launch a counter attack, Carvajal rushes to pick up the ball and look for options. He threw in to a free Sergio Ramos, who simply took a touch on his chest to set up a ball down the line to James. Too late. Vidal, careering over from his position on the right side of Juve’s midfield two, pressed the Spaniard into a sloppy return pass to Carvajal, who managed to loop a ball all the way back to Casillas. Vidal, now in full attack dog mode, charged at the Madrid captain, forcing him into a long, hurried clearance.

Fortunately for Madrid they were able to keep hold of possession, however, that 5-7 second burst of raw, ferocious energy from King Arturo, as Juventus fans call him, gave the rest of the team time to get reorganised and set, blunting the ensuing spell on Real possession and of course Vidal was back in position in the blink of an eye as well. Of course, while Toni Kroos and Sergio Ramos will have nightmares about Vidal’s alarming haircut hoving into view every night from now until the second leg, and he is otherworldly when the other team has the ball (in addition to his pressing, his positioning and tackling are impeccable as well); on the ball he is no slouch.

While he doesn’t have the vision or passing range of his midfield companion, both are well above average even at this level, meaning he is happy to receive the ball under pressure from Buffon or his centre backs and recycle possession without ever looking pressured or flustered, while his good decision making and confidence to back his technique are equally impressive. For a casual fan these qualities aren’t overly eye-catching, yet when viewed as a whole and tracked over the course of a game, there is no one else in world football who has the same versatility and relentlessness combined with technique. If you were making a list of players who could have a match defining moment in the second leg, you could probably (justifiably) name more than half a dozen player ahead of the Chilean, especially if Pogba does return, who are more likely to produce that moment. But if Juventus are to go progress to the final, it’s unlikely anyone will have had a greater impact overall than the warrior king of world football.

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