Juventus commence their 2021/22 Serie A campaign next weekend. But before that, there’s one more hurdle to pass, a final rehearsal to gauge how much the Bianonceri are prepared for their forthcoming season.
One week ahead of Juventus visiting Udinese for their first game of the new Serie A season, Massimiliano Allegri and his men will be hosting Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta on Saturday evening.
As mentioned before, Atalanta’s visit to Turin will be Juve’s last friendly in this ongoing pre-season. Henceforth, it’s expected to be a fascinating contest as both teams will be hoping to test their strengths and weaknesses.
Juventus head into the match on the back of a lacklustre 3-0 defeat to Barcelona. On the other hand, Atalanta were rampant in their 7-1 victory against Alessandria. In the latest meeting between these two teams, Juventus beat Atalanta to win the Coppa Italia title last season.
Surely the rivalry between Juventus and Atalanta has offered us many great moments over the last few years. But there is always more to the script. Here we mention three reasons why you should not miss watching the game on Saturday.
3. The possibility of seeing Juventus’ first-team forwards back among goals
Scoring goals is regarded as the most crucial trait in the game of football. The team that scores more goals wins the game at the end of the night. In terms of putting the ball into the back of the net, Juventus were fairly fortunate last season. Why? Well, they had Cristiano Ronaldo. Having scored 29 goals from 33 matches (as per the stats via Transfermarkt) in the Italian top-tier competition, the Portuguese phenomenon captured Capocannoniere glory.
Then, there was Alvaro Morata, the second top-scorer and second top assist-provider for Juventus last season. Morata’s overall play, if certain mishmashes are excluded, was adorable. Per stats from FBref.com, the Spaniard scored 20 goals and racked up 11 assists in all competitions. Morata was right there along with Juan Cuadrado and a little behind Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to the most influential individuals for Juve in the 2020/21 season.
The 2021/22 season will demand something of a similar ilk from both Ronaldo and Morata. Against Barcelona on Sunday, both centre-forwards were quiet in front of the goal. The shots that they had taken were direct towards the goalkeeper, Neto. Therefore, the former Juventus custodian saved each venomous shot on target.
Rustiness could be seen as one of the causes for their lack of precision. It was their first game after returning from their respective summer holidays. Lack of game time always does that to professional footballers.
Thus, both Morata and Ronaldo will be eager to grab a few on Saturday night. Only time will tell whether they get success in their quest or not.