November 27, (THEWILL) – Atalanta defeated Juventus 1-0 on Saturday at the Allianz stadium. Duvan Zapata’s 28th-minute goal was enough to see off the Old Lady, as Gianpiero Gasperini’s men hung on to a crucial three points.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side was listless throughout the game as they could not deal with their visitors’ high-tempo pressing game. To Atalanta’s credit, they were also intelligent when they had the ball.
Zapata’s winning goal was of exceptional brilliance, but it also demonstrated the shakiness of a Juventus team that is underperforming in the Serie A, as this defeat leaves them in eighth place, seven points behind their opponents, who are fourth.
Paulo Dybala had several chances but could not convert, while Weston McKennie came close with a deflected shot off Berat Djimsiti that Juan Musso saved brilliantly.
Juve improved in the second half, but they failed to get their forward players involved as Atalanta fought hard to secure the win.
Gasperini’s charges maintained their top-four berth, but Allegri’s Juve has a lot of work ahead of them. Before the game, it appeared like Juventus’ flowing 4-4-2/4-3-3 structure would cause problems for their opponents, but the reality was quite the reverse.
Gasperini’s 3-4-2-1 formation worked perfectly to counter everything Juve threw at them. By using two natural midfielders in a more advanced role, he not only got Atalanta’s fair share of creativity and found space between the lines, but out of possession, the two in front and behind created a box; a numerical overload that Juve’s two central midfielders, Manuel Locatelli and Adrien Rabiot, could not handle.
Zapata was outstanding in bringing others into action and running the channels, while both wing-backs, Davide Zappacosta and Joakim, Maehle were outstanding in preserving width. With these tactics, Juve could not find a loophole to exploit.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
