Reggio Emilia: Juventus clinched the Copa Italia title beating Atalanta 2-1 in the final on Wednesday (May 20). Strikes from Dejan Kuluvsevki and Federico Chiesa Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia was enough to secure a trophy for Andrea Pirlo in a difficult debut season after Bianconeri were crashed out of contention for both Serie A and UEFA Champions League.
.@juventusfcen wins the #TIMVISIONCUP 2-1 against @Atalanta_BC 🔚#WeAreCalcio #AtalantaJuve pic.twitter.com/ozn6HKJneh
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) May 19, 2021
Kulusevski gave Juventus an early lead in the 31st minute against the run of play before Ruslan Malinovskiy levelled it with a scorching strike just outside of the box. Duvan Zapata’s physicality was causing real problems for Pirlo’s men as he helped his his create a few chances.
Chiesa in the 73th minute created a moment of magic for his side. The Italian turned and dribbled after receiving a cross-field ball playing a one-two with Kulusevski before slotting it past Pierluigi Gollini for the winner. Atalanta in the later stages threw everything but were unable to find any opening. Cristiano Ronaldo, the current top scorer of Serie A finally got something for himself to cheer.
Despite the win, there’s much room for improvement for Juventus. The side needs quality in the midfield. Except for Weston Mckennie who has been quite good this season, Pirlo need to to chalk-out the areas of concerns in the middle of the park. The singing of Arthur came with a lot of hope but the Brazlilan has taken quite a bit time to gel with the squad comparing to his time in Barcelona. A possible change of formation might also be on the cards with probable shifting to a three-man midfield with a creative midfielder being a need of the hour. Besides that, the Bianconeri need to look for a striker because not every time Ronaldo will come in for their rescue. It will be interesting to how the management go about the business in the summer transfer window.
