Juventus' Slow Path Towards the Top

TURIN, SATURDAY — Thanks to a collection of five consecutive wins since February, Juventus has experienced a change of fortune in the Italian League. Facing Atalanta, Monday (10/3/2025) at 02.45 WIB, at the Allianz Stadium is the best opportunity for the "Big Lady" to test their readiness to disrupt the hegemony of Inter Milan and Napoli on the road to the scudetto.

That change of fortune has been evident since Juve suffered their first league defeat to Napoli on January 26. Following that negative result, the performance of Kenan Yildiz and his teammates improved and consistently secured victories. Empoli, Como, Cagliari, Hellas Verona, and even the league leaders, Inter Milan, were defeated.

The winning streak helped Juve cut the gap from 16 points from the top of the standings in week 22, now the Old Lady is only six points away from the first rank aka capolistaThe situation certainly opens up Juve's opportunity to compete for the Italian League trophy.

Juve actually deserve to raise their target from just finishing in the top four to chasing the scudetto. Because, their focus is already fully on the Italian League after being eliminated from the Champions League and Coppa Italia.

Consistent performances in the last five matches have also been supported by the increasing depth of the squad. This is due to the recovery of several key players, particularly in the defensive line. Pierre Kalulu and Renato Veiga have already been training with the squad ahead of the game against Atalanta.

Alberto Costa, the right-wing back, has already made his league debut when facing Verona last week. The adaptation process of the Portuguese player provides more options for Juve's coach, Thiago Motta, in the wing-back position. Costa has the potential to alternate with Timothy Weah. Andrea Cambiaso has also regained his best form after dealing with fitness issues since the end of 2024.

However, the Juve squad has not yet considered their chances of becoming direct competitors to Inter and Napoli for the title at the end of this season. Instead of discussing their position on the standings, Randal Kolo Muani, Juve's forward, stated that his team is only focused on taking it one match at a time. He is confident that if they can maintain consistent positive results, Juve's position will continue to improve.

"In football, it is better for us to only think about preparing for each match. I am looking forward to the match against Atalanta which demands us to be focused throughout the match. I am also happy to face Retegui (Atalanta striker) who is comfortable in front of goal and hungry for goals," said Kolo Muani as reported by Repubblica Friday (7/3/2025).

Although it will not yet rise to first place, a victory over Atalanta will help Juve seize third place thanks to their superior head-to-head record. The Old Lady will match the 55 points held by "La Dea," Atalanta's nickname.

Securing a victory against Atalanta at home is certainly not an easy task for Juve. For six seasons, Juve has not been able to defeat Atalanta in league games at Allianz Arena.

In those six duels, Juve had to settle for a draw. Then, Atalanta was able to bring home the victory in the 2021-2022 season thanks to a single goal from Colombian striker Duvan Zapata.

The last time the Old Lady took three points from Atalanta in front of their own supporters was in the 2017-2018 season, to be precise on March 15, 2018. Juve defeated Atalanta 2-0 through the contribution of two players who have now retired, namely Blaise Matuidi and Gonzalo Higuain.

The victory also demonstrated Juve's absolute superiority over Atalanta in the green field duel. In addition to being superior in terms of points on the scoreboard, Juve was more dominant in ball possession (51 percent to 49 percent) and shot creation (15 versus eight). In the last six seasons, Juve has failed to win against Atalanta, and has also failed to stem the dominance of the Goddess at least in ball possession.

"Our immediate goal is to conquer and overthrow Atalanta in the standings. Playing against them always produces high-tension matches because they present an attractive game," said Cambiaso as reported by Tuttosport.

While Juve have improved since February, Atalanta have shown a significant decline. They have drawn three games, including two goalless games. In the other two games, Gian Piero Gasperino's men won convincingly away from home 5-0 against Verona and Empoli.

The symptoms of inconsistency were highlighted by Gasperini ahead of his trip to Turin. Gasperini admitted that his team had a problem with consistency in finishing. They performed brilliantly by defeating Empoli, a team in the relegation zone, 5-0. However, they were stuck in breaking down the defense of another red zone resident, Venezia, led by Indonesian national team defender, Jay Idzes.

"Our weakness is maintaining consistency in the attacking area. In the last few games, the players have given their best, but the results have not been in our favor. I am sure we will return to winning ways," Gasperini told DAZN.