Juventus defeated Atalanta 2-1 to lift the Coppa Italia for the fourteenth time in history. The Old Lady struck first through Dejan Kulusevski, who nonchalantly found the nets with his left foot; however, the lead was only short-lived as Ruslan Mainovskiy put Atalanta on level terms. Federico Chiesa provided the decisive strike as Juventus went 2-1 up, and Atalanta’s chances got worse after Rafael Toloi was shown red in the dying minutes. Here are the five talking points from the game.
Kulusevski with a match-winning performance
Dejan Kulusevski has had a dormant season at Juventus, although there was a lot of fuss about him at the start. The Swedish youngster’s potential was manifest, but he struggled to maintain his consistency, which can be credited to Juve’s disappointing season. However, against Atalanta last night, Kulusevski showed everyone he is worth the hype, mustering a goal and an assist.
Atalanta’s wait for the title goes on
Atalanta’s resurgence over the last few seasons has made them a regular top-four contender and one of the dangerous sides in Europe. But when it comes to winning the title, Gasperini’s men have always ended up short, and last night against Juventus was also a similar story. The Goddess reached the finals of Coppa Italia in the 2018/19 season before losing to Lazio. Atalanta might be the best attacking side in Italy right now, but Gasperini has to find a way to scrap the results in the finals.
Gasperini said: “Inevitably, there’s a disappointment. It was a tough game, tight, well played by both teams at a strong tempo.
“We weren’t fortunate in the decisive incidents, especially the first goal and the Pessina penalty, but we pushed really hard. With the way Rabiot went in, and Pessina fell, it was clear there was a shove, but not clear who had touched the ball.
“After the break, the game became more difficult, more tactically blocked, we struggled more, and they scored a great goal with Chiesa.”
Matthijs De Ligt had another outstanding night in the defence
De Ligt is looking like a real deal in the last few games for Juve, and against Atalanta, the Dutch centre-back put on another impressive display. De Ligt produced one of the defining moments of the game when he made a vital clearance inside the box against Atalanta defender Cristian Romero.
Ronaldo won every domestic trophy in England, Spain and Italy
With this victory over Atalanta, Cristiano Ronaldo completes his trophy cabinet with every single available domestic trophy in England, Spain and Italy.
- With Manchester United, FA Cup (2004), Football League Cup (2006, 2009), FA Community Shield (2007).
- With Real Madrid, Copa del Rey (2011, 2014), Supercopa de España (2012, 2017)
- With Juventus, Coppa Italia (2021), Supercoppa Italiana (2018, 2020)
Juventus and Pirlo end the season with Coppa Italia win
Andrea Pirlo might have saved his job by winning the second honour in his debut season. Here’s how the Italian reacted after the win.
“It was a wonderful game with two great teams who fought from start to finish. It was worthy of the Final and also for these wonderful fans, so we are happy we were able to give them a great night.
“We wanted to win, to bring home this trophy, despite it not being a positive season. We came back together, got it into our heads that this was an important objective. We beat great teams in the semi-final and Final, so Juventus deserved this trophy.”
