Juventus – Atalanta Bergamo: Two Organized And Balanced Sides Cancel Each Other Out (1-1)

Two strong and organized sides faced off in an equal affair that served as a peek into the window of what is the most balanced Serie A season in years. Juve’s lead was later equalized by Atalanta’s strong approach to the second half, as both teams battled their way out in the latter part for the win.

Tactical analysis and match report by Kareem Bianchi.

Both successfully in the Champions League round of Sixteen, Atalanta and Juventus faced off in opposing moments. Whereas the former just came off an internal dispute that could potentially jeopardize title race hopes, Juve had finally come to terms with their play. 

Juve manager Andrea Pirlo thus started with the standard 3-2-5 formation, only making two changes to the Genoa win. Arthur replaced in the form of Adrien Rabiot, Danilo came in for Alex Sandro, and Dybala was benched for Morata.

Giampiero Gasperini also fielded his strongest eleven, once again in a 3-4-1-2 shape. He elected to  replace Rafael Tolói with José Palomino and keep the other ten players intact. 

An im(press)ive Juve

Juventus started in a 3-2-5 shape that Atalanta challenged in their aggressive man-to-man scheme. Zapata pressed Matthijs de Ligt, Ruslan Malinovskyi stepped out on Bonucci, while Matteo Pessina marked Arthur. Marten de Roon followed Bentancur, and the wing-backs aggressively confronted Juve’s wide men whenever they received. However, Juve’s backline’s asymmetry drew the Hateboer out on Danilo, generally narrow as the left half-back. This meant that Atalanta’s right central defender would have to . . .