Juventus 0 - Atalanta 3: Initial reaction and random observations

The final score from Bergamo on Thursday night will say that Atalanta thoroughly beat Juventus. It make things seem like they weren’t close, and that Luciano Spallett’s squad was completely overwhelmed by what La Dea were doing for much of the night.

But that’s not the case.

The scoreline, it can be deceiving. And this one is most certainly a case of that.

Sure, losing by three goals and seeing your Coppa Italia run end in the same round that it did a year ago is not a good look. That is the simplistic view of it. But when you are on the receiving end of a … let’s just say … less-than-questionable penalty call well after the supposed incident actually happened, then you’re suddenly forced to chase the game rather than have things be the way they were for much of the night — pretty dang even. Or maybe even favoring Juventus compared to how Atalanta were playing. But with Spalletti’s squad having to chase rather than truly play things out and the early chances that Juventus had not being converted, it all added up to Juve losing in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals for the second straight season.

Although, unlike last season, I feel pretty safe in saying Atalanta won’t get relegated. Or that Spalletti won’t be fired a few weeks after said Coppa Italia elimination takes place. Or hopefully any of the other things that happened following Juventus being bounced from the Coppa Italia last season.

So at least there’s not the total embarrassment that came with that loss to Empoli, right?

The fact is, the game changed after VAR ruled that Gleison Bremer handled the ball and gave a penalty away to Atalanta. Less than 20 minutes before the half, a performance in which Juventus should have been ahead suddenly turned into a case where they were trailing 1-0 and having to generate scoring chances without their best player on the field. (Which, considering Kenan Yildiz asked to be subbed off at the half all of four days ago, wasn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world. Let the young man rest for a game or two. He needs it.)

But the catch in that is the reality that Juventus should have had the lead even before Atalanta actually went ahead. In terms of really good scoring chances alone, Francisco Conceição should have put Juve ahead. Weston McKennie also had one of the best chances of the night and wasn’t able to convert.

This was far from Atalanta domination that the scoreline would suggest it was. Instead, Raffaele Palladino set his team up well — especially after the goal — and then proved to be very opportunistic to extend their lead.

This should not have been a night in which Juventus didn’t score. They racked up a total of 1.51 xG in the first half alone, with Atalanta pretty much just being dangerous from the penalty spot and that’s it in the first half. One team took their best chance, the other one didn’t — and were left to wonder what could have been if things had been different in front of goal rather than seeing chance after chance go wide, go high or even go crashing off the crossbar.

Or you can point to the fact that the Coppa Italia was Juventus’ only true remaining opportunity to win silverware this season. The Scudetto? Nah, not when you’re 10 points back in February and the league leaders are, unfortunately, looking as strong as Inter are right now. The Champions League? Not this iteration of Juventus, one that still has to get through the play-off round first … and then a whole lot of other tough opposition.

But the Coppa Italia, though? That was the one chance — even with the quarterfinal opponent being a whole lot better than the one eliminated Juventus 12 months ago. (You know, the one that is now playing in Serie B.) Spalletti’s starting lineup, outside of a couple of changes, pretty much signaled that he was going for the win and that he was taking the Coppa Italia seriously.

Maybe we should just go ahead and quote a known calcio aficionado, because these things just happen in football.

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS

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