Bergamo’s final score on Thursday night will show that Atalanta has completely defeated Juventus. It didn’t look like the situation was close and Luciano Spallette’s team were completely overwhelmed by La Dea’s actions for most of the night.
But that’s not the case.
Scorelines can be deceiving. And this is definitely the case.
Admittedly, losing by three goals and ending up in the same round of the Coppa Italia as a year ago doesn’t look very good. That’s a simplistic view. But long after the supposed incident actually happens, when you find yourself on the receiving end of a not-so-questionable penalty call, you’re suddenly forced to follow the game — even quite dangerously — instead of leaving it as it is for most of the night. Or maybe even favoring Juventus compared to Atalanta’s play. However, with Spalletti’s team having to chase rather than actually drive things, and early chances that Juventus did not convert, it all added up and Juve were eliminated in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals for the second season in a row.
However, it is safe to say that unlike last season, Atalanta will not be relegated. Or perhaps Spalletti won’t be sacked in the weeks following their Coppa Italia elimination. Or if only there were other things that happened after Juventus were eliminated from the Coppa Italia last season.
So at least we don’t have the complete embarrassment that comes with the defeat against Empoli, right?
In fact, the game changed after VAR ruled that Gleeson Bremer had handled the ball and awarded Atalanta a penalty. Less than 20 minutes into the first half, a performance that should have given Juventus the lead suddenly turned into a 1-0 lead and a situation where they had to create scoring chances without their best player on the field. (This wasn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world considering Kenan Yildiz asked to come off the bench four days ago. Give the youngster a game or two off. He needs it.)
The catch, however, is the reality that Juventus should have been in the lead even before Atalanta actually took the lead. Francisco Conceição should have led Juve, just in terms of really good scoring chances. Weston McKennie also had the best chance of the night but couldn’t convert.
This was far from Atalanta’s dominance as the scoreline suggested. Instead, Raffaele Palladino set up his team well and took advantage of opportunities to extend the lead, especially after the goal.
It shouldn’t have been a night where Juventus didn’t score. Atalanta had a total of 1.51 xG in the first half alone, Atalanta almost found themselves in a dangerous situation from the penalty spot and that was it for the first half. One team had the best chance and the other team couldn’t make it. And it made me wonder what would have happened if things had been different in front of goal, instead of one chance after another going wide, flying high or even crashing into the crossbar.
Or you could point to the fact that the Coppa Italia was Juventus’ only real chance of winning silver this season. Scudetto? Well, not when they had 10 points in February and sadly the league leaders looked as strong as Inter now. Champions League? Instead of this iteration of Juventus, they have to get through the playoff round first, and then there are many other strong opponents.
But what about the Coppa Italia? It was their only chance, even if their quarter-final opponents were far better than the Juventus they had beaten 12 months earlier. (As you know, he’s currently playing in Serie B.) Apart from a few changes, Spalletti’s starting lineup mostly showed that he is aiming to win and is serious about the Coppa Italia.
Perhaps this kind of thing often happens in football, so let’s quote a known calcio lover:
random thoughts and observations
- It wasn’t a good night for Grayson Bremer Silva Nascimento. Not good at all.
- That doesn’t take into account the fact that I claim he was dismissed due to a VAR review of handball. I don’t know exactly what he was supposed to have done there, other than try to do something completely unnatural, since the law says that to be a handball you have to do something completely unnatural. That’s natural, right? Because sometimes I don’t even know how to explain these things.
- It wasn’t a good night for Mattia Perrin.
- It wasn’t a good night for Weston McKennie, but it’s something he hasn’t thought about in months.
- It wasn’t a good night for Francisco Fernández da Conceição either.
- It wasn’t the best night for Luciano Spalletti either. His submarines were completely ineffective. And it may have seemed a little too late. This is a little surprising considering how quickly he and his team correct mistakes made in-game.
- It’s a controversial opinion, but I wish Kefren Thuram had scored early on. Maybe it’s just me, but it would have been really nice to see that.
- Speaking of Thuram, I thought it was a game where Coach Spalletti gave him a rest. That’s because he looks quite tired–this is the opinion of a man who watched from a very far distance.
- I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets “Berlusconi” every time Lorenzo Bernasconi’s last name is mentioned in the first 10-15 minutes. I definitely did a double take the first few times.
- Giorgio Scalvini fighting for the ball with Chico Conceição – Class Talls & Smalls situation.
- Was Manuel Locatelli one of the few Juventus players who performed really well in this match? Because I think Manuel Locatelli was one of the few Juventus players who actually played well against Atalanta.
- What if Juventus had converted one of their chances to score in the first half? This thought will probably cross my mind several times over the next few hours.
- It’s been a while since we’ve seen a goalkeeper with a -0.93 goals conceded, and that was the award Photomob gave to Mattia Perin for his performance against Atalanta. And you know what? It feels about right.
- The good thing is that Federico Gatti is getting his legs back. The problem is that he doesn’t look very good during this process.
- Personally, I’m glad that Andrea Cambiaso didn’t score another own goal. It’s a shame that the bar has become so low for Cambiaso, because he’s a player I’ve really liked over the last few years, but I’ve had a tough time looking at him lately.
- Juventus’ defense for the second goal was…not good.
- Juventus’ defense for the third goal…I can’t say it was great either.
- Atalanta had four shots on goal all night. They scored three of them.
- Juventus had a total of 13 shots all night. They hit two of them on target.
- Or maybe he saw what Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi did against Como at the weekend and thought, “Oh, let’s not do that again!” (I’m kidding, I’m sure.)
- While this is an established fact, something needs to be done about the whole VAR review process. So, even though Atalanta’s players and coaches weren’t even complaining about the possibility of handball, everyone slammed on the brakes and the game was stopped, followed by a review. You have to hope that at some point they realize that some of these calls aren’t actually correct calls and just keep impacting the product.
- Again, this is Italian soccer in 2026, so it’s hard for them to say what is actually true.
- First impressions of Jeremy Boga were good — especially considering he hasn’t played in six weeks.
- Emile Holm is tall.
- Teen Corps Miners received the reception we expected.
- Three former Atalanta players will appear on the bench against Atalanta. Just as we all expected.
- One of the few positives to come out of this? Kenan Yildiz was rested. he needed it.
- That means either bringing him back against Lazio or giving him two weeks rest next weekend against Inter at San Siro. I like the sound of it, especially the second part.
- Let’s hope this proves to be a one-off and not a regression to the mean. It’s up to Luciano to prevent the second half of that sentence from happening. Sure, it would be nice if that were the case, no matter how tough the schedule is next month.