Juventus beat Atalanta and win the Coppa Italia

The Coppa Italia final this year saw Atalante v. Juventus.

This is not an unprecedented final between these two teams as a final had already taken place in 2021 which saw the Bianconeri triumph 2-1 thanks to the decisive goal scored by Federico Chiesa in the second half.

In any case, as regards the formations, the Atalanta coach, Gian Piero Gasperini, had to do without his starting striker Gianluca Scamacca, unavailable due to suspension, and in an attempt to fill his absence he deployed the trident of Teun Koopmeiners, Ademola Lookman and Charles De Ketelaere.

While coach Massimiliano Allegri opted for the attacking pair of Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic, confirming the very physical defense made up of Federico Gatti and the Brazilian defenders Bremer and Danilo.

The start of the match was characterized by very high pressing from Juventus .

This strategy immediately gave results as in the 4th minute of the game, Atalanta made a mistake in the setup phase which was well exploited by the opponents with Andrea Cambiaso who quickly verticalized towards his teammate Dusan Vlahovic, who evaded the offside trap and found himself in front of the goalkeeper who he passed with a precise touch with his right foot, also resisting the recovery of defender Isak Hien.

Atalanta tried to react by changing their tactical approach but Juventus once again created an important opportunity from a corner kick with a fortuitous header from Federico Gatti which went over.

Shortly afterwards it was the turn of Croatian midfielder Mario Pasalic to attempt a central shot but was quickly blocked by the Bianconeri defenders.

In the meantime, Juventus lowered its center of gravity so as not to provide any openings to its opponents who took control of possession but turned the ball around too slowly, consequently failing to surprise the rivals' prepared defensive lines.

This dynamic of the match proved to be particularly favorable for Juventus as it allowed it to exploit the speed of its offensive players in dangerous and rapid counterattacks once the ball was recovered.

The presence of captain Marten De Roon and teammate Ederson proved to be particularly valuable in the defensive phase, allowing Atalanta to avoid the risk of conceding another goal.

Subsequently, Charles De Ketelaere, until then completely absent, had the opportunity to make himself dangerous from a central position but he wasted it grossly with a completely imprecise conclusion.

Thus ended, with Juventus provisionally taking the lead, a first half not particularly full of shots towards goal but intense in terms of the determination shown on the pitch by the players.

The second half started again with a substitution for Atalanta, De Ketelaere came out and Malian striker El Bilal Touré came in in his place so as to have a reference in the penalty area which was missing for the entire first half.

Atalanta immediately started aggressively, trying to close down their opponents in their own half, making themselves dangerous on several occasions.

First with a shot from striker Lookman which was deflected wide.

Then, with a header from Koopmeiners, in central insertion, which ended just outside the far post.

However, Juventus' defense still showed a certain solidity.

Once the first hour of play was over, Gasperini tried to insert fresh resources by inserting Giorgio Scalvini, Hans Hateboer and Aleksey Miranchuk.

Allegri responded by introducing midfielder Fabio Miretti.

Shortly after, Vlahovic came close to scoring his second goal. After receiving the ball from Federico Chiesa, he managed to dribble past his opponent but was unable to finish positively due to the timely intervention of Marten De Roon.

However, the Dutch footballer suffered an injury during this recovery which forced him to leave the pitch, and now he seriously risks not being able to play in the UEFA Europa League final which will be held next week against the difficult Bayer Leverkusen.

However, in the following action Vlahovic managed to find the net with a precise header from a returned cross from Andrea Cambiaso.

The Bianconeri's enthusiasm for the second goal was immediately extinguished by VAR which detected a millimetric offside position by the Serbian attacker, nullifying everything.

Therefore the result remained at 0-1.

Atalanta therefore returned to attacking with many players.

However, the only really interesting opportunity was limited to an external post hit by Lookman.

Atalanta's final siege did not affect the solid and organized defense of the Bianconeri who even had the chance to score the second goal with Fabio Miretti who, from a favorable position after receiving a through pass, hit the crossbar with a powerful shot.

With the result, Juventus wins the Coppa Italia for the 15th time in its history, confirming itself as the club that has won it the most.

In addition, Allegri has further reason to celebrate as he became the first coach in history to win five editions of the national trophy.