Round 32: Juventus vs. Atalanta match preview

Khephren Thuram of Juventus FC competes for the ball with Charles De Ketelaere of Atalanta BC during the Atalanta BC vs Juventus FC, Quarterfinals Coppa Italia Frecciarossa 2025-26, at New Balance Arena in Bergamo, Italy, on February 5, 2026. (Photo by Davide Casentini/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images It didn’t take long for Juventus to get some help when it comes to closing the gap between themselves and Como in fourth place. It came from a somewhat unexpected source by a very unexpected scoreline, but it was something that resulted in the three-point gap between the two sides going down to one.

This weekend could very well be the same kind of situation — especially when you remember that Como are facing the team currently sitting atop the Serie A standings. But unlike Easter Monday when Juventus had a provincial club on the schedule, they now must also try and fend off a team that is clad in nerazzurro — this one being about an hour or so on train from Milan. Twenty-four hours before Como face league-leading Inter Milan on the shores of Lake Como, Juventus will take the field at the New Balance Stadium in Bergamo looking to do something that they weren’t able to do in the Coppa Italia couple of months ago — beat Raffaele Palladino and Atalanta.

Yes, the same Atalanta team that was the last remaining team in the Champions League before they ran into the Bayern Munich machine that has one foot in the semifinals. The same Atalanta team will advance to the Coppa Italia final with a win over Lazio in a couple of weeks. And the same Atalanta team that both bounced Juventus from the Coppa Italia back in early February and that the Bianconeri have not beaten in an actual competitive match in nearly two years .

This kicks off a huge three-game stretch for Juventus, with the next three weekends looking like this: Away to Atalanta Home to Bologna Away to AC Milan Forget who Como have on the schedule for a second because for Luciano Spalletti that is a vital three-game span over the next 14 days in which Juventus will essentially continue some sort of charge toward the top four or pretty much need a miracle in the final month of the 2025-26 season to qualify for the Champions League. It already isn’t easy, but then you throw in some very tough opponents on top of it as Como try to maneuver around their toughest remaining fixtures with an advantage over Juventus. It’s clear what Juventus have to do: just keep the pressure up.