Cremonese and Parma played out a goalless draw in Serie A, with Parma edging the balance of play but unable to break through a resilient Emil Audero. Davide Nicola’s side extended their unbeaten start, while Parma may have uncovered a way to counter Cremonese’s deep-defending, counter-attacking style. Israel Schmidt de Azevedo explores the key tactical themes from the match.
Cremonese vs Parma was a match where both teams had similar initial positioning, but the purposes behind their approaches were completely different. Parma looked to dominate possession, creating plays and pressing immediately after losing the ball. On the other hand, Cremonese were comfortable conceding the ball, defending deep, and relying on counter-attacks to exploit spaces that opened up.
This match also saw Davide Nicola presented with the Coach of the Month Award, recognising his work in Cremonese’s strong Serie A start.
Cremonese resisted Parma’s pressure by widening their left and right centre-backs, with a midfield line of five dropping close to defence. Giovanni Vázquez moved into a second striker role, supporting Antonio Sanabria as the centre-forward. Parma pressed with José Ángel Pellegrino central as the striker, Patrick Cutrone drifting wide on the right, and Valdemar Sørensen pushing up on the left. Adrián Bernabé advanced as an attacking midfielder, while Keita slotted between Bernabé and Sørensen, forming a flexible diamond that shifted into a four-man line behind Pellegrino. Behind them, a back five pushed high, with Gabriel Valeri moving from midfield into a left wing-back role and Jesper Almqvist holding width on the right.
In the 9th minute, Valeri dribbled past Alessio Zerbin and crossed to Pellegrino, who rose above Matteo Bianchetti and headed against the post, a huge early chance for Parma.
Cremonese sought to recover the ball and counter quickly, with Vázquez and Sanabria holding up play to initiate attacks. But Parma reorganised swiftly into a compact block, their wing-backs dropping into a back five.
In front, Cutrone and Sørensen tucked in as wide midfielders alongside Bernabé and Keita, with Pellegrino leading the press. This setup suffocated Cremonese’s counters, neutralising their biggest weapon.
In the 31st minute, Cutrone laid off to Pellegrino, who spun and shot, but his effort went straight at Audero. Early in the second half, Bernabé tried his luck from distance in the 55th minute, forcing a sharp save low to the corner from Audero. At the 64th minute, Pellegrino again threatened, rising highest from a corner but heading just wide across goal.
In the 81st minute, Almqvist drifted inside and slipped a brilliant pass to Enrico Del Prato, whose shot from close range was saved by Audero’s outstretched foot. The rebound fell to Almqvist, but his first-time effort was deflected wide. Four minutes later, Dennis Johnsen delivered a cross for Moumbagna, whose header was blocked by Federico Baschirotto though he was flagged offside.
In stoppage time, Vázquez spotted Leonardo Suzuki advancing and attempted a spectacular long-range strike, but Suzuki recovered well to tip the ball over the crossbar.
The match ended 0-0, with Cremonese maintaining their unbeaten run but struggling to impose their counter-attacking style. Parma’s pressing structure largely nullified Nicola’s game plan and dominated large spells, but Audero’s performance denied them the breakthrough. It may prove a tactical blueprint for others to challenge Cremonese going forward.
Written by Israel Schmidt de Azevedo
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