Juventus pulled a fast one on us on Saturday. Usually the team that pays for poor finishing when on the front foot, this time the Bianconeri were the ones who performed the smash-and-grab. After weathering an Atalanta storm in the first half, an ugly goal by Jérémie Boga early in the second gave Juve a 1-0 lead—one that they wouldn’t relinquish. Despite being on the receiving end of 22 shots, Atalanta only put three of them on target, and only one, a header by Berat Djimsiti, that proved dangerous
for Michele Di Gregorio in goal.
The 1-0 victory, the first by a visiting team in Bergamo in the 2026 calendar year, had reverberations well past the walls of the New Balance Stadium. Sunday’s results shifted the balance of the race for the Champions League places. Inter’s wild 4-3 win over Como saw Juve leapfrog the upstart club and back into fourth place, while poor results for Napoli (a 1-1 draw with Parma) and AC Milan (a 3-0 loss to Udinese) opened up the race for the top four, with Juve pulling to within six and three points, respectively, the two clubs.
It was a weekend that turned the run-in on its head, with Juve digging deep for a critical victory. How did the players on the field fare? Let’s take a closer look.
MICHELE DI GREGORIO – 7.5. Taking back his starting gloves with Mattia Perin out, Di Gregorio was exceptional on Saturday. He didn’t have a whole ton to do from a shot-stopping perspective, but boy oh boy was his one big save big. It was also incredible, seeing Di Gregorio readjust himself twice while the ball was in the air before his final lunge. He also controlled his box well. The redemption arc continues.
PIERRE KALULU – 6.5. Lost an early duel with Giorgio Scalvini that nearly put Juve behind early, but thankfully it hit the post. The rest of the game saw him at his usual best, and he was unlucky not to open the scoring at the end of the first half when he was put through perfectly but saw Marco Carnesechi bravely come out to meet him.
BREMER – 7. After a wobbly game on Monday, the Brazilian showed his old self in Bergamo, registering eight clearances and a blocked shot. Nikola Krstovic couldn’t beat him in the air.
LLOYD KELLY – 7.5. Equalled Bremer’s clearance total and won five aerial duels along with four tackles. A big day for the Englishman.
EMIL HOLM – 7. His first start as a Juventus player was simply excellent. He made five tackles defensively, and was a protagonist both on Boga’s goal and in the near-miss from Khéphren Thuram that should’ve iced the game. On the former he was particularly impressive, throwing the highly physical Sead Kolasinac off before putting in his cross. This dude needs to play more.
MANUEL LOCATELLI – 6.5. Blocked four shots, adding three tackles and four clearances to his impressive defensive tally. Also had a key pass, though he wasn’t able to pierce the Atalanta press in the first half, or else this would’ve been higher.
KHÉPHREN THURAM – 5.5. Not surprising that he wasn’t 100 percent, although he put in a decent enough shift defensively. He completed 94.1 percent of his passes, but should’ve put the game away when Holm set him up beautifully in the 68th minute.
ANDREA CAMBIASO – 5. Had a pretty full stat sheet defensively, but the eye test told a different story. He had his hands full with a 33-year-old Davide Zappacosta, and even more with Charles De Ketelaere.
FRANCISCO CONCEIÇÃO – 5. Another guy who was clearly not 100 percent, the Portuguese tried to create danger but didn’t have all of his usual burst and shiftiness.
KENAN YILDIZ – 5. Also banged up, and really looked it. Had only one key pass and gave the ball away a couple of times in dangerous areas.
JÉRÉMIE BOGA – 7. On the spot to score, and he ran everywhere, leading the game in distance covered. He’s been a transfer coup.
SUBS
JONATHAN DAVID – 6. Did exactly what he had to after Juve went ahead. His passing and holdup play at the top of Juve’s low block helped relieve pressure and give Juventus time to regroup in the back. A successful day doing a huge amount of dirty work.
FEDERICO GATTI – 6.5. Excellent work in the back for the last 20 minutes of the match. Continually won in the air and didn’t make any mistakes as he added extra steel to the back line.
TEUN KOOPMEINERS – 5.5. He was there to defend, and he did that pretty well, although he did next to nothing when it came to trying to get Juve upfield. He only touched the ball six times and attempted two passes.
FABIO MIRETTI – NR. Registered a late dribble, but was there to see the match out.
FILIP KOSTIC – NR. Out to add more defensive skill than Cambiaso late.
MANAGER ANALYSIS
Luciano Spalletti has largely done a great job since he’s taken over getting the team back on track after a rough start. It was impressive to see how he turned a defense that looked discombobulated in the first half and turned them into a compact unit that, save for one or two moments, never really looked like they were going to let Atalanta equalize. By the end of the match it was clear that Rafaele Palladino’s men had run out of ideas and were resorting to flinging crosses in the direction of Gianluca Scamacca’s head and hoping one of them found it the right way.
If there was ever a time for Spalletti to show that he was indeed the man to leave Juve longer-term, it was now, right after he signed his contract extension. With the top four race starting to open up as Milan and Napoli start falling back to the pack, he might have more paths to get into next year’s Champions League, but for now the best path is the simplest—win games. And unlike a lot of coaches the last few years, he’s showing that he can do that in multiple different ways.
LOOKING AHEAD
Juve welcome Bologna into Turin on Sunday, then finish a huge three-week stretch with a trip to the San Siro to face an AC Milan team that is suddenly looking like it’s in free fall.
