Zero goals but a good first half that took place this evening at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo between Atalanta and Juventus. At the end of the first half it was a very open game between two teams who were challenging each other man for man and created a couple of chances each.
With Retegui back on the pitch but only to sit on the bench, Gasperini took to the pitch with Pasalic behind the attacking duo De Ketelaere-Lookman. On the other side, Juventus’ unusual 4-2-3-1: the false nine is not Nico Gonzalez (wide on the left) but Koopmeiners. There is McKennie behind the Dutchman and Yildiz on the right wing.
The first twenty minutes were spent studying, the first opportunity was created by a much booed Koopmeiners: the great ex was good at getting around his compatriot De Roon but was unable to overcome Carnesecchi with his diagonal. On the first ring of Koop Atalanta responded with Ademola Lookman, among the best of the first half. The Nigerian had a couple of opportunities: in the 25th minute he tried with a long-range shot on which Di Gregorio put his gloves on, in the 38th minute he instead had to deal with Thuram’s opposition. In the middle, a nice shot from the edge of the area by McKennie which the Atalanta goalkeeper was good and careful about.
In the last ten minutes Atalanta tried to raise the pace, but in the 44th minute it was Nico Gonzalez who came close to scoring with a shot that grazed the post and in full injury time it was Carnesecchi who avoided the worst with a very dangerous cross from the trocar. At half-time the score was equal.