Juventus vs Atalanta

Juventus and Atalanta BC will battle for victory in Turin on Sunday night, with both teams still in the running for an unexpected Serie A championship.

With five consecutive league victories, Juventus has rekindled their waning aspirations of winning the Scudetto, but La Dea's poor start to 2025 continued last week; although Inter Milan and Napoli are leading the pack, neither team can be completely counted out.

A revived Juventus is once again on the periphery of this year's Scudetto competition, having closed the gap on first-place Inter, in part because of the waning performance of former league leaders Napoli.

Juve at least hopes to earn a Champions League return despite struggling out of this term's competition in the playoffs, and Italy's top four are tightly tied with 11 games left.

Thiago Motta remains under pressure despite his team's recent performances, especially after their disappointing Coppa Italia exit at home against struggling Serie A side Empoli. They were eliminated in the quarter-finals following a penalty shootout defeat.

However, his squad bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Hellas Verona, with in-form midfielder Khephren Thuram continuing his impressive run. After scoring the opener on Monday, the Frenchman has now reached a personal best for goal involvements in a single league season, tallying seven contributions (three goals and four assists).

That victory marked Juventus’ fifth consecutive Serie A win, a feat they haven’t extended beyond six straight league triumphs since early 2023. With another win, they can match Atalanta’s 55 points in the standings. History is also on their side, as the Bianconeri have lost just twice in their last 40 league meetings with their Lombardy rivals—both defeats coming in 2021.

Even so, Juventus has struggled to secure a home win against this week’s visitors in Serie A since early 2018, with their last six encounters in Turin resulting in five draws and one victory for Atalanta.

The last three league meetings between Juventus and Atalanta have ended in draws, including a 1-1 result in January's reverse fixture, where Mateo Retegui scored the equalizer for the hosts. Since Gian Piero Gasperini took charge of Atalanta nearly nine years ago, this fixture has produced the most Serie A draws, with 11 in their 17 matches.

Atalanta heads into their latest clash with Juventus still reeling from a disappointing Champions League defeat. The fallout from that loss saw Gasperini publicly clash with star player Ademola Lookman, casting doubt over the forward's future at the club. Gasperini, who is set to manage his 332nd game for Atalanta this week, will join Roma's Nils Liedholm as the second-most experienced coach in charge of a single Serie A team, trailing only Juventus legend Giovanni Trapattoni (402 games).

However, Gasperini's future remains uncertain, and Atalanta faces the prospect of losing key players in the summer. After Teun Koopmeiners departed for Juventus last year, Lookman is now among those likely to be targeted by other clubs. With the potential end of an era looming, Atalanta hopes to make a lasting impact by securing their first-ever Scudetto. But to achieve this, their recent form must improve significantly.

Despite keeping four consecutive Serie A clean sheets for the first time since 2000, Atalanta has struggled to convert draws into wins, particularly against relegation-threatened teams. Most recently, they were held to a frustrating draw by Venezia, missing a chance to close the gap on Inter Milan. With a challenging run of fixtures ahead, any further slip-ups could prove costly in their pursuit of the title.