Juventus gain breathing room at the top four with win over Bologna

TURIN, ITALY - APRIL 19: Jonathan David of Juventus celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and Bologna FC 1909 at Allianz Stadium on April 19, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Alberto Gandolfo - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) | Juventus FC via Getty Images If you were at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday night, you’d be forgiven for running all over the emotional spectrum during your time in the building. That wasn’t because of Juventus.

They rang up a 2-0 victory over a Bologna team that never really threatened to make the game interesting. It took full advantage of other results earlier in the week — losses by Como and Napoli and a draw between Roma and Atalanta — to not only put some distance between them and their pursuers in the race for the top four, but pull within only three points of the Partenopei and AC Milan, who are joint second. Considering many thought that Juve were certain to finish outside the top four only a month ago, it’s an incredible turnaround.

But all of that came before Juve’s moving tribute to the late Alex Manninger, who played 40 times over four seasons for the Bianconeri in the late oughts and early 2010s. It was a somber moment, especially juxtaposed against the elation of Juve’s wire-to-wire victory that put them five points ahead of Como and Roma with just five games to go. But it showed a sense of Juventus as a family that has felt missing in recent years.

When the game was over, things felt oddly … better than they have sometimes during these seasons of struggle. Luciano Spalletti was forced to make a couple of changes with Kenan Yildiz carrying a knock and only fit for the bench. Dusan Vlahovic, Arkadiusz Milik, Vasilije Adzic, Juan Cabal, and Mattia Perin were all out.