Away at Bergamo, the Bianconeri were greeted with a spirited Atalanta side attempting to do what other teams have failed to do so far this season – score against Juve. But despite their brave efforts, they were outmatched and outclassed by the goals from Tevez and Morata, as well as a crucial penalty save by Gigi Buffon in the second half.
Richmond Boakye, a Juve loanee, were tasked to mark Claudio Marchisio out of the game and Juve were starved of possession in the opening minutes of the first half. However, the Italian champions showed why they are favorites to win the Scudetto again this season by taking the lead against the run of play through Tevez following some good build up from Llorente, Vidal, and Lichtsteiner. Juve seemed to be cruising until Chiellini conceded a penalty in the second half with the game still 0-1, which threatened Juve’s perfect record this season. Luckily, Buffon were able to thwart Denis from being the first man to put the ball into the back of Juve’s net. Incredibly enough, Juve took a two goal lead right away in the same minute thanks to Tevez again, whose strong effort from outside of the area was palmed into the net by Sportiello. Tevez was once again instrumental in Juve’s third goal as his beautiful pass in the 83rd minute found substitute Roberto Pereyra, who crossed for the onrushing Morata to head home his first goal in Bianconeri colors.
Although it’s still early in the season, I am really liking what Allegri has brought to Juve so far. The 3-5-2 framework developed by Conte is still being used but the tweaks that Allegri has made to the this formation has made Juve unpredictable in attack and tight in defense. Tevez is now given the license to drop deeper to receive the ball and drive his side forward, with Llorente being more of a focal point in the box. Perhaps, the most impressive of all is that Ogbonna is playing well with a lot of confidence; something that we didn’t see during Conte’s tenure. The Italy international is covering for the injured Barzagli, but so far he has been very solid and it’s fair to say that he looks more like the Ogbonna at Torino that we paid €13m for last summer. Tomorrow will be a good test for Allegri and Juve as they travel to Madrid to face Spanish champions Atletico in the second group game of the Champions League.
PLAYER RATINGS:
Buffon 7.0: I could just copy-pasted Buffon’s ratings every time because with such an impressive back line in front of him, he is rarely called into action. However, he proved everyone tonight that he still got it after denying Denis from the penalty spot.
Ogbonna 7.0: Solid in the air, and produced a very neat performance at the back once again. He is starting to justify the transfer fee that Juve paid for him.
Bonucci 6.5: He was prevented by Atalanta from having too much time on the ball to launch his usual long range passes, but he was defensively sound.
Chiellini 6.0: Was perhaps unlucky to concede a penalty since replays showed that he did not make any sort of contact with Molina, but nevertheless, it was still a silly and unnecessary challenge.
Lichtsteiner 7.0: The Swiss international was a lively presence on the right flank, creating a number of chances for his teammates. Produced the assist for the first goal.
Vidal 6.5: King Arturo wasn’t quite at his best tonight, but still he gave Juve a helping hand in distributing the ball to the strikers.
Marchisio 6.5: Il Principino was marked out of the game tonight, but whenever he was in possession of the ball, he hardly made any wrong passes.
Pogba 6.5: Worked very hard both in defense and attack. His physical presence was a constant menace to Atalanta and he also had a number of attempts on goal. However, he failed to get on the scoresheet.
Evra 6.0: Sloppy in possession in the early minutes of the first half as Atalanta pressed well. Claimed an assist for Tevez’s second goal though.
Tevez 8.5: The Argentinian continued his rich vein of form by scoring two goals and running the Atalanta side ragged. 6 goals in 5 games for Carlitos so far this season, amazing.
Llorente 6.5: As usual, held the ball well and produced a good link up play with his teammates to fashion several chances. But, when it came to scoring, his finishing was absent.
Pereyra 6.5: Came on to give Vidal some rest ahead of the Atletico clash, and set up Morata well with an accurate cross.
Morata 7.0: Looked eager to claim his first Juve goal once he came on for Llorente, and he duly did so with a bullet header.
Coman n/a: Replaced Tevez late on as Juve looked to see out the game.
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