Overview
Despite recent successes - most notably the Europa League title - Atalanta's only national cup title is still the Coppa Italia from 1963.
2 years ago, the Bergamo team was very close to glory but then missed it. This season, they started the Coppa Italia campaign with a convincing 4-0 victory over Genoa in the round of 16, one of the positive results since coach Raffaele Palladino took over.
In Serie A, Atalanta won 23 points after 12 matches, thereby rising to a higher position in the rankings. Last weekend, they continued to have one more clean sheet - the seventh time under Palladino - thanks to their hard-working performance.
In the away match to Como stadium, the opponent competing for the top 6, Atalanta almost had to play with one less player most of the time after Honest Ahanor received an early red card. However, a series of excellent saves by Marco Carnesecchi still helped them leave the field with a 0-0 draw.
Currently ranked seventh in Serie A, La Dea's most significant stumble since the beginning of the year is losing the last 2 Champions League group stage matches and falling to the play-offs. Before entering the two matches against Borussia Dortmund in European competitions, Atalanta also has to solve two matches in the domestic league, interspersed with a not-so-pleasant national cup challenge.
Although he has won seven out of nine home matches under Palladino, this time he will have to host his old team Juventus in Bergamo - an opponent who is also on his own revival journey.
Many things have changed since the 1-1 draw between the two teams in Serie A in September, when both Atalanta and Juventus have changed head coaches and those adjustments are clearly effective.
One of Luciano Spalletti's first victories as Bianconeri captain came in the Coppa Italia, when Juventus defeated Udinese 2-0 in Turin. From the boost at the beginning of December, they gradually shaped their identity, played more confidently and rose to the top 4 in Serie A.
Also entering the Champions League knockout round, Juventus has only lost 2 matches in all competitions under Spalletti, especially sublimating in the past two weeks.
However, Juventus' February schedule is even harsher. After the confrontation with Atalanta, they will successively meet Lazio and Como, interspersed with Derby d'Italia, and must play both Champions League play-off matches with Galatasaray.
Personnel situation
After the breathtaking match at the Como stadium, Atalanta is likely to rotate forces. A big question mark is whether 17-year-old center-back Honest Ahanor will be quickly "forgiven" after the disastrous red card.
In attack, Gianluca Scamacca can compete for the center forward role with Nikola Krstovic. Newcomer Giacomo Raspadori is also expected to have more opportunities to show himself.
In terms of force, Atalanta is almost only missing Mitchel Bakker due to a long-term injury. Juventus is worried about the case of Kenan Yildiz due to a minor problem in the closed muscle, and still lacks two strikers.
Dusan Vlahovic continues to be absent along with Arkadiusz Milik. However, Jonathan David is in good form with 4 goals in Serie A in 2026, while Weston McKennie has scored 6 goals in all competitions since Luciano Spalletti took over the team.
In set pieces, Bremer is still a formidable spearhead. Since 2019, no center-back has scored more goals than him in the top 5 European leagues.
Expected lineup:
Carnesecchi, Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac, Zappacosta, De Roon, Ederson, Zalewski, De Ketelaere, Raspadori, Scamacca.
Perin, Kalulu, Bremer, Gatti, Cabal, Locatelli, Koopmeiners, Zhegrova, McKennie, Miretti, David.
The match between Atalanta and Juventus takes place at 3:00 AM on February 6th (Vietnam time).
