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Juventus 1-0 Spezia: 3 takeaways from a vintage Max Allegri triumph

By James Cormack

TURIN, ITALY - MARCH 06: Alvaro Morata of Juventus FC celebrates a goal during the Serie A match between Juventus and Spezia Calcio at Allianz Stadium on March 6, 2022 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - MARCH 06: Alvaro Morata of Juventus FC celebrates a goal during the Serie A match between Juventus and Spezia Calcio at Allianz Stadium on March 6, 2022 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Stefano Guidi/Getty Images) /
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Consolidating fourth place

AS Roma dealt Atalanta a blow in their bid to claim a top-four spot on Saturday. (Photo by Silvia Lore/Getty Images)
AS Roma dealt Atalanta a blow in their bid to claim a top-four spot on Saturday. (Photo by Silvia Lore/Getty Images) /

Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma joined the top-four race while simultaneously doing Juventus a massive favour as they beat Atalanta 1-0 on Saturday to move level on points with La Dea. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are continuing to struggle in Duvan Zapata’s absence and they simply can’t gain any momentum in their bid to catch the Bianconeri.

Following Sunday’s win, Juve now have a six-point advantage over Atalanta and Roma. The former does have a game in hand, however.

Their fate in the top-four race is finally in their hands and a few more are placing Allegri’s plucky Old Lady in the Scudetto race. I’ve never believed in it, and I’m still hesitant, but the gap to the current leaders AC Milan is just seven points. Just two points separate the top three and Inter will go back to the summit if they win their game in hand against Bologna. That’ll also extend their advantage over Juve to eight points.

The Bianconeri’s hopes are slim and precarious. I firmly believe that Allegri’s conservatism will come back to bite them before the season’s up, even if they’ve evolved into one of Europe’s stoutest defensive units over the past few months.

For me, the priority remains to hold off Atalanta and Roma in the race for the top four. Their lengthy unbeaten run has put them in a brilliant position to do so following a historically poor start to the campaign. Remarkably, Atalanta’s 1-0 win in Turin in late November was Juventus’ last defeat in Serie A.

The Scudetto remains a distinct long shot.

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