Juventus’ hopes of winning their 10th straight Scudetto are all but over after suffering a 1-0 loss at the hands of Atalanta in the Italian Serie A.
Ruslan Malinovsky’s deflected shot flew past a wrong-footed Wojciech Szczesny in the 87th minute to give the home side a big victory that sees them leapfrog Juventus into third place the league.
Atalanta are now just two points behind second-placed AC Milan, who beat Genoa 2-1.
Andrea Pirlo’s Juventus have now dropped to fourth, just two points above fifth-placed Napoli as their UEFA Champions League spot has come under threat. This may not matter, however, if The Super League does go forward, which will see the Milan clubs and Juventus leaving Europe’s classic elite club competition.
Napoli could have knocked Juve out of the top four in Sunday’s late game but failed to capitalise on the opportunity as they were held to a 1-1 draw by leaders Inter.
Morata missed two glorious opportunities to score for Juventus. (Photo by Ciro Santangelo/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
The top four in Serie A qualify for next season’s Champions League so it will be interesting to see what happens if the Milan sides and Turin’s best club do depart to play a league against the other powerhouses of Europe.
Without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus struggled to break down the home side as Alvaro Morata lacked composure when he had two big opportunities to score for the visitors.
Atalanta, however, were the side that looked more dangerous and seconds before his winning goal, Malinovsky’s 40-yard rocket shot had Szczesny at full stretch to turn the ball round the post to keep them in the game.
Juventus face Parma next in what is now a must-win game for the Italian champions while Atalanta have a stiff task against AS Roma.
