The last time Atalanta beat Juventus on the road in Serie A, the world was a very different place. The Berlin Wall was still up, Josip Ilicic’s Slovenia and Mario Pasalic’s Croatia (and all of Yugoslavia) were not yet independent nations, and yours truly was barely six weeks old! Yes Atalanta had not beaten Juventus in Turin since the ’80s – how about that for a piece of pub trivia?!? But the monkey is off the back for good now – and Atalanta achieved the result in, let’s say, interesting fashion.
For a team that has blown so many second half leads this year, no one would have been surprised to see Atalanta bottle another late advantage. Given Juventus’s play in the second half, a second goal looked all but inevitable; yet, somehow Atalanta managed to stave off a furious Juventus attack. The back three (and four with Palomino) gobbled up nearly every opportunity that came its way – and while Juventus had the lion’s share of possession all game, it only had two shots on target and a crossbar hit to show for it.
It is anyone’s guess as to why Saturday was the culmination of a defense looking to find its shape and continuity, but it could not have come at a better moment. Saturday’s brilliant victory puts La Dea seven points ahead of Juventus, Lazio, and Fiorentina – with only Roma within one match distance of equalizing on points. After such a shaky start to the year to the season, the offense is finally clicking, and maybe Saturday was a turning point for the defense. But let’s all soak in a brilliant victory for Atalanta that should not be understated. “This isn’t the Juventus of old,” “Juve banter era is coming,” or any of the other excuses people may throw out to downplay the victory – don’t be fooled by it! It’s a statement victory for a club that most definitely needed a statement win!
Atalanta Passione’s Match Ratings
Juan Musso- 7: Of the two stops Musso had to make, his fingertip save on Rabiot’s curler was one of his best stops of the year. It’s an old tune by now, but this is a shot that Gollini probably doesn’t stop.
Rafael Toloi- 7.5: His overall excellent defensive effort was highlighted by a vital block on a charging Federico Chiesa that could have easily given Juventus an early lead.
Merih Demiral- 7.5: The Turk’s physicality that was missing against Young Boys was unleashed all at once against Juventus, as he gave Alvaro Morata all he could handle as Juventus’s target man.
Berat Djimsiti- 7.5: His stellar defensive performance overshadowed his head’s up game-winning assist.
Davide Zappacosta- 6.5: It’s great that he was actually playing after what seemed to be a gruesome ankle injury, but he held his own in match where he probably wasn’t 100%.
Joakim Maehle- 5.5: Perhaps the lowlight of the match – some questionable clearances, and almost a gift of a handball nearly let Juventus crawl back into the match.
Remo Freuler- 7: His dirty work in clogging up the midfield was vital before Atalanta went into full prevent defense.
Marten de Roon- 7: Similar to Freuler, de Roon stands out even more locking up Dybala in his own half of the pitch for most of the first half.
Ruslan Malinovskyi- 6: He was in dribble mode far too often, and it would’ve been nice to see him unleash a few shots with some of the spaces he was given.
Matteo Pessina- 6: Not his crispest game. His passing was off, but hustle and press was on point as it always is.
Duvan Zapata- 7.5: He was Atalanta’s offensive engine all match – including a murderous goal. His dumb foul on Bernardeschi in stoppage time, however, almost allowed Dybala to equalize.
Mario Pasalic- 6.5: A surprising appearance of the bench for Pasalic, he did not have time to put a stamp on the match offensively, as La Dea were already in defense only mode upon his entrance.
Jose Luis Palomino- 7: His work on the left side helped out Maehle immensely who was a bit on an island against Bernardeschi, Cuadrado, and Dybala.
Teun Koopmeiners- s/v
Atalanta Passione Man of the Match- Berat Djimsiti
In all honestly, the man of the match could have gone to any of the back three – but Djimsiti’s assist etches him a notch above Toloi and Demiral. His decision making was top notch, as usual, and he made a seamless transition over to the right side of the pitch to help see the game out. Djimsiti often goes overlooked, but his contribution to the team is not easy to define with numbers, but it is interesting that a lot of Atalanta’s defensive frailties have come without him in the lineup. Coincidence? Perhaps, but having the Albanian in the lineup is so very comforting.
Other Juventus vs. Atalanta Odds and Ends
Teun Koopmeiners may have only played 8 minutes, but it was an incredibly active and vital spell. In his time on the pitch, he killed off the match dribbling assertively into the corner (killing time), earning a corner, taking a corner kick that clanked off a Juventino for another corner kick, and charging in with a crunching tackle on Moise Kean to end the game. A gem of a player!
Duvan Zapata has now scored in 7 straight games for Atalanta in all competitions. Beyond this remarkable streak, he still does not have a brace in any match. 11 goals against 11 different opponents. No raking in the goals against scrubs against for the Colombian!
How does Merih Demiral put in such a sterling performance against Alvaro Morata, but suffer so much against Pefok and Young Boys? Perhaps he was amped up against his parent club, but it would be extremely interesting to see how he fares against Dries Mertens in a week’s time. Obviously not a classic striker, and it will be a good test to see how he fares against a different offensive attack where he can’t muscle up an obvious target man.
Ruslan Malinovskyi still only has one assist on the Serie A season, but is sixth in the league in shot creating actions. It’s probably just a matter of time before some his passes result in assists, but it’d be much better to see him pass off the ball, rather than dwell on it through dribbling…
The color coral looks good on the boys, and it was a great time to pull out a debut for the alternate jersey. It was introduced in such a momentous game, perhaps it should already be retired?!? Regardless, Saturday was an historical moment for Atalanta and all the faithful tifosi. Not sure if the pundits will include Atalanta in the Scudetto race yet, but who cares?!? Keep on winning and performing like this and the results will come themselves. Great win, everyone – and always, Forza Dea!!!
Excellent write-up (per the usual), Nick.
Looking forward to the POD.
Cheers,
@ilspencerino
Cheers, Spencer!