Atalanta stunned the Coppa Italia holders Juventus with a comprehensive 3-0 victory at the Atleti Azzurri dItalia. Juventus had been looking to make it an unprecedented five back-to-back Coppa Italia wins but faced a tough test away to Atalanta.
It could be argued that given the other sides in the competition this was perhaps the best draw that the Old Lady could have hoped for. Juventus avoided the more traditionally big sides in Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina, Napoli, AC Milan and Inter. Atalanta however, have been simply brilliant at times this season.
They currently sit 7th in Serie A and are well within reach of the final Champions League place, only trailing AC Milan by three points. Although Atalanta are a mighty 27 points behind leaders Juventus, the side from Bergamo are the leagues highest scorers with 47 goals in 21 games and have one of Italys most in-form strikers in Duván Zapata.
The Colombian forward had scored 15 goals in nine games before this Coppa Italia tie, finding in the net in each of those nine games at least once. He also had previous against Juventus, netting a brace in the league fixture just after Christmas in a 2-2 draw. In our tactical analysis we will look at how Zapata and Atlanta were able to continue on their fine run of form against the biggest and best side in the country.
The setups
Atalanta started in Gian Piero Gasperinis favoured 3-4-3/3-4-1-2. Juventus tended to operate in a 4-4-2, although their formation at times was more of a 4-3-3 with Bernardeschi pushing forward into a right-wing position and Ronaldo drifting more to the left-hand side.
Playing with a back three gives Atalanta a numerical advantage over most sides in this area. When Paulo Dybala dropped deeper to find the ball, Ronaldo was left 1v3 against the Atalanta defence. As such the defenders could be very aggressive and not worry too much about leaving space in behind, since they knew they had the cover and Juventus didnt have the support up front.
Playing with two strikers supported by
