Journalist
January 14, 2025 (changed at 11.13pm) – BERGAMO
Juve escapes with Kalulu, Atalanta takes it back with Retegui, but, in the end, a draw comes out which is of little use to both. The Nerazzurri limit the damage, but, four days before the direct clash against Napoli, they find themselves 4 points away from the top, with Inter who, potentially, by winning both recoveries, could even fly to +8. And in any case the third consecutive draw in the championship is a negative sign for a team whose engine light seems to indicate a lack of petrol. On the other hand, Motta's team, however, is used to X's and regrets: Bergamo's is the 13th draw of the season in Serie A out of 20 games and with the two left to Gewiss the points lost from advantage situations rise to 14 . An enormity, which condemns the Bianconeri to once again fail to catch up with fourth place Lazio (2 points away) and to pay attention to Milan, their next opponent, now up to -5 (with one game less).
ATALANTA PLAYS, JUVE STARTS AGAIN
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Gasperini preserves the banned Hien, who will have to stop Lukaku on Saturday evening, and makes only one change compared to the trip to Udine: Bellanova out and Ruggeri in, with Zappacosta moving to the right. Two changes after the derby, however, for Motta (disqualified, deputy Hugeux on the bench): Locatelli returns to the middle alongside Thuram in place of Douglas Luiz, while McKennie moves forward on the offensive line, with Cambiaso low on the left. The Bianconeri's is a 4-2-4 with no references similar to the one seen in November against Milan, with Yildiz on the right, Nico on the left and the much booed former Koopmeiners and the American in the middle. The Bianconeri's plan is clear: leave ball possession to the Nerazzurri (in the end it will be 60%-40%), as had only happened with Manchester City in the Champions League, and rely on the Dutch number 8 to sort out his teammates and start again in depth. And this succeeds a couple of times, even if Motta's team fails to worry Carnesecchi due to measurement errors. The show, however, was affected by Juve's attitude because, when Atalanta insisted on dribbling at the edge of the area, the guests were not ashamed to defend even with 7 men inside the penalty area. The result was a fairly blocked match, in which, until injury time before the break, the best opportunities came with shots from outside: the first in the 25th minute for the home team, with Di Gregorio doing well to block a right-footed shot from the outside. spin from the edge of Lookman; the second, in the 34th minute with McKennie, who kicks weakly to Carnesecchi's left after an insistent action by the Bianconeri. The challenge starts at the turn of the 45th minute: a minute earlier Nico Gonzalez, again from outside, with his left foot, grazes the post to the right of the Atalanta goalkeeper. Then, in the two minutes of added time, it was Yildiz who became dangerous: first with a cross from the left that was grazed by Koopmeiners and Ruggeri which forced Carnesecchi to fumble in the corner, then with a scissors kick on the corner which went wide.
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KALULU CALLS, RETEGUI ANSWERS
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In the second half, Juve restarted with the momentum with which they had closed the first half and, thanks to a couple of shots from Gatti, earned two corner kicks in 3 minutes: on the second Koopmeiners found Kalulu at the near post, the ball hit The Frenchman's header hits the second wood and Carnesecchi is miraculous in pulling it out of the door with an absurd reflex. On the restart Pasalic flies into the open field, but when he reaches the edge of the area he shoots wide. But Juve are better and the confirmation arrives in the 54th minute: Locatelli throws long for McKennie, who controls very well and launches into space: Kalulu arrives like a train next to him, which the American serves deep into the area for a touch under the legs that leaves no room for Carnesecchi. For the former Milan defender it is the first, very heavy goal in black and white. Atalanta's reaction is vehement: Gasperini immediately inserts Samardzic for Pasalic and first serves Di Gregorio (good save on Ederson from the edge) and then Koopmeiners (save on the line following a close-range attempt by Lookman) to keep Juve in front. The Nerazzurri coach uses all his offensive battery and also tries with Retegui and Bellanova for De Ketelaere and Zappacosta: Juve seems to control with ball possession and compactness, but in the end the presence of a real center forward pays off. It's the 78th minute when De Roon passes from left to right, Bellanova jumps ahead of Cambiaso and sets the table for Retegui, who anticipates Savona and beats Di Gregorio, again with his head. In the end, there is also room for regrets: Atalanta's are at the feet of the new substitute Zaniolo, who in the 84th minute was blocked by Di Gregorio; the black and white ones on those of Yildiz, who, in the 91st minute, launched on the left in the area by McKennie, strangled a diagonal shot and put it just wide. And so, they both emerge not defeated but disappointed.
