After the last wins with Cagliari and Hellas Verona, Atalanta will strive to round off these seven days of Serie A fire with a good outcome against Juventus, currently ahead in the standings by one point.
It will be the first matchup to be played on a Sunday at 18:00 CEST.
In terms of both scheduling and timewise, this Sunday’s clash between Atalanta and Juventus will be a historic first; never before had the Nerazzurri and Bianconeri crossed swords on a Sunday at 18:00 CEST. Moreover, this will be the third-ever fixture to kick off at that time: thus far, the scales hang in the balance, with one victory each -with the latest being Atalanta’s 0-1 away win at the Allianz Stadium back in November 2021, courtesy of Duván Zapata.
How many times have the two teams faced off on Matchday 7?
Three previous Serie A encounters were disputed on matchday 7. The latest of which dates back to the 1st of October 2017 and culminated in a 2-2 pacey draw as Atalanta completed a climactic comeback with Caldara and Cristante thwarting Juventus’ double lead (with goals of Bernardeschi and Higuain). As a further ne plus ultra, Etrit Berisha saved on Dybala from the penalty spot. Another tie was the outcome of the match played in the 1977/78 season: a historic 1-1 draw in Turin with Libera’s equaliser negating Benetti’s lead and with Atalanta finishing the match 2 men down after Mastropasqua and Vavassori were sent off. Last but not least, comes Atalanta’s widest victory against Juventus (on par with the one claimed back in April 1941): clinched in Bergamo and dating back to October 1963, it featured a neat 3-0 on the scoresheet courtesy of Calvanese, Domenghini and Milan.
Only one player flaunts a shared past, who’s who?
With Demiral transferred out to Saudi, this will be the first time in many years with no former player featuring either squad list. However, more loosely speaking, on Juventus’ side there is a player with a past as a Nerazzurro. We’re talking about Manuel Locatelli: the midfielder native of Lecco took his first steps at Atalanta, playing in our Academy between 2004 and 2009, before completing his move to Milan.
