For a squad that looked quite tired as they dropped points for the first time in Serie A this season, a week’s worth of rest in between games felt like something that was exactly what the doctor (or, in this case,
training staff) ordered to try and cure those ills.
The thing is, though, Juventus’ first meeting of the season with Atalanta is the beginning of another big stretch heading into another international break.
Rather than having three games in eight days, Juventus will have three games over the next nine days, starting with Ivan Juric’s Atalanta squad that has started the 2025-26 season relatively well under their new manager. For both of these two clubs, who are sitting in second and fifth through the first four matchdays of the new campaign, this is another one of those early-season tests on the eve of another midweek Champions League test that will give us another clue as to where they both stand. We know that Juve manager Igor Tudor has been frustrated by multiple things lately — the amount of goals his team is allowing, the refereeing decisions that have gone against the Bianconeri both domestically and in Europe — and with who they have coming up both this weekend and over the next few weeks, those things will have to improve if they want to continue this successful start to the season.
The good thing, of course, is that Juve are entering Saturday evening’s matchup in Turin with some time to catch their breath after a whirlwind week that consisted of a wild 4-3 win over Inter Milan in the Derby d’Italia, an equally crazy 4-4 draw with Borussia Dortmund three days later to begin their Champions League campaign and then finally a dour 1-1 draw against Hellas Verona.
Was it concerning just how physically and mentally drained Tudor’s squad looked at the Bentegodi? Yeah, a little. You never want to see your squad looking that zapped no matter the circumstances all of five games into the season.
But the hope is that with so much time in between the draw against Hellas Verona and Atalanta’s visit to Turin this weekend, Tudor will have been able to correct things both in terms of how his team is feeling and how they’ve been playing — especially at the back having allowed eight goals in their last three games in all competitions.
We know that Atalanta is no joke even though Gian Piero Gasperini has traded in living in Bergamo for the Italian capital. There is no more proof in that considering it’s been seven years since Juventus last beat Atalanta when facing La Dea in Turin. As much as Juric’s squad is coming off a very notable 4-0 loss to reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain their Champions League opener last week, they were able to do what Juve wasn’t — respond with a win, beating Torino by nearly the same scoreline.
There’s also this: For the second time in three games in all competitions, there will be an all-Croatia matchup along the sidelines, with Tudor facing his friend and fellow Split, Croatia, native in Juric who is three years his senior.
“His work has often been underestimated, but he’s always achieved good results with the teams he’s coached,” Tudor said of Juric, a former player and assistant coach under Gasperini. “He had some bad luck with Roma last year, and then in England, but his ability is clear for anybody to see.”
So a lot like the matchup against Inter two weeks ago, this is a test of Juve’s chops to see just how things have progressed during the early weeks of the 2025-26 season. There’s also the added layer of seeing how Tudor’s squad will rebound from looking so exhausted against Hellas Verona and if there’s any sort of defensive improvements as compared to facing Inter and Borussia Dortmund. Atalanta still has the talent to make Juve pay if those defensive issues are still ever-present — something that is not breaking news to anybody who knows how the La Dea machine has worked for the better part of the last decade.
TEAM NEWS
- Building off the fact that his team was extremely gassed as Saturday’s draw with Hellas Verona wore on, Tudor said at his pre-match press conference on Friday that the squad had two full days off before coming back to training earlier this week.
- Just two games after coming back from muscle fatigue that forced him to leave the Portugal camp early, Francisco Conceição is once again a doubt this weekend after training separately on Thursday and Friday.
- With Conceição a major doubt to face Atalanta, some in the Italian press are tipping Edon Zhegrova to make his first Juventus start in place of the diminutive Portuguese winger. Zhegrova has made a pair of cameos off the bench so far as he works his way back to full match fitness following his lengthy injury layoff.
- Gleison Bremer is expected to be back in the starting lineup after Tudor rested him against Hellas Verona.
- The only other players out injured for Saturday’s matchup with Atalanta are Fabio Miretti and Arek Milik (of course).
- Tudor was again quite complimentary of Dusan Vlahovic’s early-season form, saying he’s “very happy with his performances so far.”
- Just in case you’re wondering about how Tudor feels regarding facing Atalanta (and beating them) in the final preseason friendly of the summer, he said “that counts for nothing.”
JUVENTUS PLAYER TO WATCH
With Juventus’ goal scorer from last weekend likely out of action this weekend, it’s looking like the other half of the Bianconeri’s Deadline Day signings is in line to make his full debut.
Which, for a lot of folks, is quite the exciting proposition to see take place. So why not talk about him?
If a lot of the predicted lineups coming out of the Italian press are to be believed, Edon Zhegrova is set to make his first Juventus start this weekend. As mentioned above, this comes after a pair of somewhat short appearances off the bench against Borussia Dortmund and then Hellas Verona, giving us a small glimpse of what he’s capable of on the field and what he can add to this team.
Of course, one of those brief cameos was better than the other — a lot like you can say about Juve’s overall performance in attack against Dortmund as compared to Hellas Verona. For Zhegrova, though, those were the first couple of steps in a comeback that could very well see him make his first start in nearly 10 months this weekend.
And if that’s the case, the biggest thing for the 26-year-old Zhegrova is just how many minutes he will be able to play and how he looks over the course of his first extended run in a Juventus jersey. We know what he can do well when he’s at his best — be a dangerous dribbler with the ball, create scoring opportunities for his teammates, bring a ridiculous among of swag to the field. That is what he does when he’s at his best, and he provided a few glimpses of that during Juve’s late comeback against Dortmund last week.
This what Tudor had to say about Zhegrova ahead of Juve facing Atalanta: “Zhegrova is working away towards reaching top form.”
If that is the case, then seeing him against Atalanta may well just give this team the jolt of energy they need after last weekend’s draw with Hellas Verona. We want to see Edon cook, and Saturday may be the first big opportunity for him to do just that.
MATCH INFO
When: Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025.
Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.
Official kickoff time: 6 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe, 5 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 12 p.m. Eastern time, 11 a.m. Central time, 9 a.m. Pacific time.
HOW TO WATCH
Television: CBS, Fox Deportes (United States); TLN (Canada).
Online/Streaming: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network, DAZN USA, Amazon Prime Video (United States); DAZN Canada; fuboTV Canada; Amazon Prime Video; Fubo Sports Network Canada (Canada); DAZN UK (United Kingdom); DAZN Italia, Sky Go Italia (Italy).
Other live viewing options can be found here, and as always, you can also follow along with us live and all the stupid things we say on Bluesky. If you haven’t already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.
