The Blessing Behind the Misfortune of "The Big Lady"

TURIN, TUESDAY – Juventus ended February with misfortune. They were eliminated from the Champions League and Coppa Italia, which were actually the most realistic opportunities to pursue their first trophy under Thiago Motta. However, "The Old Lady" immediately demonstrated their determination to rise and reignite the competition at the top of the Italian League standings.

The ambition to not throw in the towel in the scudetto competition was proven by Juve when they defeated Hellas Verona 2-0, Tuesday (3/4/2025) WIB, at the Allianz Arena Stadium. The midfielder duo, namely Khephren Thuram (72nd minute) and Teun Koopmeiners (90th minute), secured Juve's fifth consecutive victory in Serie A.

The series of positive results in the second half of this season has gradually elevated Juve's standing. From being a team competing for fourth place with three other contenders, such as Lazio, Bologna, and Fiorentina, Juve is now once again threatening the comfort of the top-three trio that had remained unchallenged since last November.

Kenan Yildiz and his teammates have reduced the point gap with Atalanta, who are in third place, to just three points. Juve has the opportunity to overtake the third position if they manage to defeat Atalanta in the match of the 28th week, Monday (10/3/2025) WIB.

On the other hand, Juve also reduced the gap of points from Inter Milan and Napoli to six and five points respectively. Although still dependent on the performance of Inter and Napoli, Juve's hopes of competing for the scudetto this season have re-emerged.

However, Motta does not want his players' concentration to be distracted by the reopening of opportunities to compete for the Italian League title. Regardless of the standings, Motta stated that his team's focus is on preparing to perform at their best in every match.

"I'm focused on our performance today. We got three important points to get closer to (the top three)," Motta was quoted as saying by Tuttosport.

The preparation period against Atalanta, which lasted nearly a week, opened up an opportunity for Juve to improve the squad's depth. Motta hopes that several players who had previously suffered injuries will be available when hosting "La Dea," the nickname for Atalanta.

In the game against Verona, Motta had only six outfield players on the bench. The absence of four players, namely Douglas Luisz, Francisco Conceicao, Nicolo Savona, and Renato Veiga, meant that Motta had to adjust to the limitations of the squad.

The recovery of center-back Pierre Kalulu has brought some relief to Motta. The presence of the player recruited from AC Milan allowed Federico Gatti to be substituted in the 71st minute. Gatti had played full matches in all 13 games for Juve since January 12. He also appeared fatigued midway through the second half due to Juve's high defensive line intensity.

"We hope to have some players back in the next few days to prepare for Atalanta, one of the best teams in the league. We need all our energy and concentration to be ready because we know how difficult it will be," Motta said.

Former Italy international Motta has already planned his tactics for the Atalanta clash, saying Juve must attack.

"Playing at home, we have to take the initiative and know what happens if we let Atalanta play their very good style of play physically and tactically. Atalanta are very aggressive and press high, so we need intensity and determination," he said.

The match against Verona, overshadowed by the whistles of disappointment from the tifosi, was Motta's attempt to present a change in his team's game. He left Koopmeiners on the bench. The midfield trio was filled by Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli, and Thuram.

McKennie played as a trequartista who was very close to the striker, Randal Kolo Muani. Then, Locatelli who often played in the role of a deep-lying midfielder served as a mezzala.

Locatelli is the driving force of Juve's attack. The initiative for multiple attacks starts from his feet. He moves in the middle to support Andrea Cambiaso and Nico Gonzalez on the left wing. Juve's first goal also started with a key pass from Locatelli to Cambiaso.

Thuram played as a pivot midfielder. Although he played deeper, he occasionally came from the blind side of Verona's defenders. He scored thanks to his good positioning when three Verona players were provoked by Kolo Muani's off-ball action in the penalty box.

In addition, Koopmeiners who came in to replace McKennie when the match was one hour old actually occupied an odd position. He played as a wide midfielder or a wide midfielder on the right side.

Koopmeiners' presence made Yildiz play in the middle. Yildiz's replacement, Samuel Mbangula, also occupied the middle position, instead of playing on the flank. The new task paid off because the Dutch player ended his goal drought in the Italian League since December 8, 2024.

"Teun (Koopmeiners) is an important player for us who can play in many different roles due to his physical ability, technique and good understanding of the game. The goal will be very important for him," said Motta.

Verona assistant coach Alberto Bertolini said his team failed to maintain their performance in the second half because they lost two key players who were replaced at halftime, namely Marco Faraoni and Pawel Dawidowicz. At the end of the first half, Verona managed to score a goal through Tomas Suslov, but the goal was disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR) due to offside.

"The players gave everything and were able to keep up with Juve for 70 minutes. A defeat like this only gives us optimism for the next games," said Bertolini, who replaced suspended coach Paolo Zanneti, as quoted by Hellas1903.