Juventus won their 14th Coppa Italia trophy after beating Atalanta by 2-1 at the Mapei Stadium. Atalanta will have to wait for more to achieve their second ever top-flight title.
Dejan Kulusevski gave the lead for the Bianconeri in the first half but Ruslan Malinovskyi equalized the game late in the first half. In the second half, Federico Chiesa scored the winning goal for Juventus.
With this victory, Andrea Pirlo’s side got important silverware in the first season. This win will give a big boost for the Bianconeri in the last game of the season away to Bologna to secure the Champions League spot.
Atalanta 1-2 Juventus team news:
Gian Piero Gasperini went with a 3-4-2-1 formation for this encounter. Pierluigi Gollini was between the sticks. Hans Hateboer and Robin Gosens started in both wings. Matteo Pessina and Ruslan Malinovskyi were given the responsibility to create chances. And Colombian forward Duván Zapata led the line for Atalanta.
Bianconeri started with a 4-4-2 formation and went with the same team from midweek. The only forced change was Alex Sandro suspended for this game. Gianluigi Buffon was the last line of defence for Andrea Pirlo. Matthijs De Ligt and Giorgio Chiellini were the centre-back pairing. Federico Chiesa was on the one flank and Weston McKennie was on the other. Cristiano Ronaldo and Dejan Kulusevski led the line for Juventus.
Atalanta 1-2 Juventus Post-match analysis:
Atalanta started the game brightly and created a few good moments but they couldn’t convert those chances. Gasperini’s side were clearly the better in the first half. Juventus didn’t have much joy higher up the field in the first half. However, on the 31st minute mark the former Atalanta man Kulusevski opened the deadlock with an excellent goal.
The side from Bergamo didn’t require to wait long for the equaliser. On the 41st minute in form Malinovskyi scored the equaliser with his trademark bullet shot.
In the second half, it was all Juventus, they controlled the game, created more chances, and looked threatening from the start. And Atalanta couldn’t cope with the Bianconeri. Chiesa had a great opportunity to take the lead. Ronaldo flicked the ball to the 23-years-old winger. But, from the one-on-one situation, he hit the ball onto the post.
Eventually, the Italian winger gave the lead to Andrea Pirlo’s side. A great one-touch football between Chiesa and Kulusevski bamboozled La Dea’s defence and this time Chiesa made no mistake.
Atalanta couldn’t break through the Old Lady defence in the second half and managed only one on target. Which wasn’t enough to earn a Silverware in the top-flight tournaments.
Notable Performances:
Dejan Kulusevski: Scored a great goal in the first half and gave an excellent pass to Chiesa for the second.
Federico Chiesa: Scored the winner in the crucial stage of the game but should have scored another one.
Cristiano Ronaldo: Didn’t have a good game. He looked uninterested and off the ball work rate was very minimal.
Juventus will be travelling to Bologna on Saturday to play the last game of the season and Atalanta will welcome AC Milan on the same day for Serie A clash.
