Serie A – Atalanta and Juventus back to back, first for AC Milan of Sergio Conceiçao

Atalanta Bergamo and Juventus Turin neutralized each other (1-1) on Tuesday in a late match on the 19th day of the Italian Championship, while AC Milan snatched their first victory in Serie A from Como (1- 2) under the direction of his new coach Sergio Conceiçao.

As expected, the duel between Atalanta and Juve, two of the most attractive and offensive teams in the championship, sparked, with a cascade of scoring opportunities and a wild pace for 90 minutes.

But as feared by its fans, Juventus has cracked again: it has certainly still not lost in Serie A this season, but it has conceded its thirteenth draw in twenty days!

Thiago Motta’s team, relegated to the stands after his exclusion last weekend during the Turin derby, ended up finding an opening in the Bergamo defense, thanks to its French defender Pierre Kalulu (54th), launched by Weston McKennie.

But as is often the case as soon as they lead, the Bianconeri started to fall back and Atalanta took the opportunity to equalize on a header from Mateo Retegui (78th) returning from injury for his thirteenth goal of the season. “This draw does not satisfy us, we had a good match but we let victory slip away again“, regretted Motta who did not want to comment on the press information announcing the imminent arrival of Randal Kolo Moani (PSG) on loan.

This draw is no one’s business: Atalanta, which has only scored three points in its last three matches (3rd, 43 pts), is losing contact with Naples (leader, 47 pts) and possibly with Inter (2nd, 43 pts but two matches less), while Juve, who will face Napoli on Saturday, is left behind in 5th place (34 pts).

Started with a coronation in the Italian Super Cup, the Conceiçao era at AC Milan is more laborious in the league: three days after a draw at home (1-1) against relegated Cagliari (18th), the Rossoneri were manhandled then led by a poorly ranked promotion (16th), before waking up.

Como where Maxence Caqueret, who arrived on Sunday from Olympique Lyonnais, made his debut after the break, took the lead thanks to another recent expensive recruit, the Spaniard Assane Diao (60th).

Milan owed its salvation to two players who had been called into question by Paulo Fonseca, Conceiçao’s predecessor, dismissed on December 30 after only six months in office. Théo Hernandez equalized in the 71st minute, before Rafael Leao gave his team victory five minutes later. Thanks to this success, the first in the league since December 6, AC Milan moved from 8th to 7th place (31 pts, one game less), but is sixteen points behind Naples.