Juve missed the chance to put pressure on leaders Napoli against Bergamo. The Old Lady failed to capitalize on a dominant first half. Bergamo came close to victory until Kossounou made a lapse.
Openda made his Serie A debut in the starting lineup for Juventus Turin, with the former Leipzig player starting in the center of the attack for Vlahovic. Bremer, Koopmeiners, and Adzic replaced Locatelli, Joao Mario, and Francisco Conceicao.
Juve’s starting eleven got off to a flying start, with Kalulu’s header hitting the right post after less than 120 seconds (2′). In the 5th minute, former Bergamo player Koopmeiners almost scored, but Carnesecchi in the Atalanta goal prevented his team from falling behind (5′). . Bergamo, who also had a debutant in their starting lineup in the form of 17-year-old Ahanor, struggled initially and were primarily busy with defensive tasks, with no offensive actions of their own to speak of except for one foray by Ahanor (14th minute). Juve, on the other hand, continued to work hard to take the lead, but Adzic’s long-range shot was cleared by Carnesecchi, Thuram’s attempt was deflected (20th minute), and Adzic’s second shot went just wide to the right (31st minute).
Sulemana dances past half of the Juve defense
And so it came to pass, as it often does when a team is not rewarded for its efforts. Seconds before the half-time whistle, Sulemana danced past half of the Juve defense and left keeper Di Gregorio with no chance with a well-placed left-footed shot into the right corner of the goal (45+1).
Bergamo came out of the dressing room with momentum, and Krstovic could have made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute, but the Montenegrin missed with only Di Gregorio to beat. But it was now Atalanta who were dictating the play on the pitch. Juve, who really should have responded, offered very little in return, and the first whistles echoed around the stadium. Bergamo could have added to their lead through Krstovic (52′) and Bellanova (65′), but the Lombards failed to capitalize on these chances.
Cabal capitalizes on Kossounou’s mistake
It took almost 25 minutes for Juventus to build up pressure again. But scoring chances were few and far between! Carnesecchi had a quiet second half, only having to intervene in the 75th minute when Yildiz sent in a rather unfortunate cross. But then former Leverkusen player Kossounou made a mistake, which Cabal took advantage of to equalize 1-1 (78′).
Things got even worse for the Bergamo side when captain de Roon was shown a yellow card just 120 seconds later (80′). From then on, Juventus pushed for the win, which McKennie had at his feet. But the former Schalke player, unmarked from close range, aimed straight at Carnesecchi (89′). With nothing happening in the five minutes of added time, the score remained 1-1.
Both teams are in Champions League action this week. Juventus travel to Villarreal on Wednesday (9 p.m.), while Bergamo host Club Brugge on Tuesday (6:45 p.m.).