Gian Piero Gasperini will be pleased with his side’s performance. Atalanta play on the front foot, which can leave them exposed at the back. Although they conceded, La Dea had the confidence to keep playing and were rewarded with an equaliser. The challenge now is to press for a winner.
It’s all square at the break in the Coppa Italia final between Atalanta and Juventus. La Dea had the best of the early stages, but could not find a breakthrough. They were then exposed on the counter by Juve as Dejan Kulusevski curled a sublime strike into the back of the net. However, Atalanta responded before the break through a blast from Ruslan Malinovskiy, leaving the contest in the balance.
45′ + 1′ HALF-TIME: ATALANTA 1-1 JUVENTUS
45′ Hateboer has acres of room down the right flank and he floats a cross into the box aiming for Zapata. Chiellini has to rise to clear the danger.
43′ Zapata threatens at the near post to turn a cross from Hateboer at goal, but Danilo is on the spot to block his effort behind for a corner.
41′ Hateboer has room down the right flank and offloads towards Malinovskiy in acres of space, who finds the net with a super finish.
41′ WHAT A GOAL!!!!! MALINOVSKIY EQUALISES WITH A BULLET STRIKE!!! 1-1!!! La Dea are level as the Russian penetrates a wall of Juve defenders to find the back of the net. Hateboer finds Malinovskiy in acres of space on the edge of the box. He takes a touch to bring the ball on to his left foot before hammering his effort through a crowd of players and past Buffon. The veteran stopper had no chance with that one.
41′ De Ligt brings down Zapata with a cynical challenge and goes into the book. Both Juve centre-backs have now been cautioned.
37′ Atalanta are still showing a great deal of commitment out on the field in the final third. Gasperini and his team play with no fear.
R. Malinovskyi
Yellow Card
35′ Malinovskiy brings down Rabiot with a loose challenge and goes into the book.
35′ Zapata raids down the left flank and bends a cross into the box that Haterboer attacks. He connects with a header that Buffon gets down to stop with ease.
33′ Atalanta have paid the price for spurning their early openings. La Dea now have to fight back against Pirlo’s men.
31′ McKennie is on the spot in the final third and he offloads to Kulusevski in space before the winger does the rest with a fine effort.
31′ GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! KULUSEVSKI PUTS JUVE AHEAD!!!! 1-0!!!! The Bianconeri take the lead on the counter as Kulusevksi bends a strike into the right corner of the net. Cuadrado starts the move by winning a challenge in midfield to allow Kulusevski to break. He feeds Ronaldo, who is halted by a good challenge by Romero. However, the deflection favours Juve as McKennie picks out Kulusevski in the right-inside channel. He then expertly guides his left-footed effort with precision past Gollini.
29′ WIDE! Malinovskiy pulls the trigger on a left-footed strike that travels at pace, but it drifts wide of the right post. Not the best effort from that position.
27′ Chiellini brings down Pessina on the edge of the box with a lunge and goes into the book. Atalanta have a free-kick in a dangerous position.
25′ WIDE! Juve fail to clear their lines inside their own box. Pessina nods the ball down to Freuler in space in the right-inside channel. He fires a low strike across goal that travels just wide of the left post.
22′ Atalanta have been on the front foot for the majority of the game. Gasperini will be pleased to see his team handling the occasion.
20′ The game has been played at a good pace and both sides are showing an attacking intent this evening.
18′ Zapata takes control down the left flank and fires at goal from the angle, but Buffon makes the stop for the Bianconeri.
17′ BLOCKS! Ronaldo hammers his effort straight into wall, but squirms a strike through on the second attempt. Chiellini tries to connect on the slide to send it towards goal, but his effort is charged down by Romero.
16′ Ronaldo makes a move in the final third and goes down under Toloi’s challenge. The referee awards Juve a free-kick on the edge of the box.
13′ Kulusevski continues to ask questions of the Atalanta defence as he draws a foul from Romero.
12′ Pessina runs at the Juve defence and breaks into the box following a one-two with Zapata. He goes down under pressure from Rabiot, but the referee says the Frenchman won the ball.
9′ Kulusevski runs down the right flank and breaks into the box. He tries to offload towards Ronaldo in the middle, but Toloi arrives to sweep it away from danger.
7′ Chiesa goes down in the box under contact from Palomino, but the referee is not interested in the appeals for a penalty from the Juve winger.
6′ Atalanta have made a rapid start to the contest and have put the Bianconeri under immense pressure at the back.
5′ CHANCE! Gosens clips a fine ball into the box for Zapata to control. He does extremely well to roll away from Chiellini before firing at goal on his left foot, but he places his attempt wide of the target.
3′ CLOSE! Zapata surges down the left flank and beats the challenge of Cuadrado. He cuts the ball back for Palomino to shoot, but his effort is blocked by the legs of Buffon.
1′ We’re under way in the Coppa Italia final.
Atalanta and Juventus have met on 16 occasions in the Coppa Italia: Juventus winning six and losing four (D6).
There are two changes from Pirlo tonight from his side’s win over Inter in their last outing. Buffon takes the gloves from Szczesny, who drops to the bench. Alex Sandro is missing from the squad, which sees Cuadrado drop back into the left-back. McKennie comes into the team and earns the start on the right flank.
Atalanta have made two changes to their side that beat Genoa in their last outing. Palomino comes into the backline to replace Djimsiti, who drops to the bench. Miranchuk makes way from the final third as Pessina gets the nod from Gasperini to start alongside Malinovskiy and Zapata.
JUVENTUS SUBS: Wojciech Szczesny, Arthur, Aaron Ramsey, Alvaro Morata, Paulo Dybala, Leonardo Bonucci, Merih Demiral, Carlo Pinsoglio, Federico Bernardeschi, Gianluca Frabotta.
JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Gianluigi Buffon; Danilo, Matthijs de Ligt, Giorgio Chiellini, Juan Cuadrado; Weston McKennie, Rodrigo Bentancur, Adrien Rabiot, Federico Chiesa; Cristiano Ronaldo, Dejan Kulusevski.
ATALANTA SUBS: Joakim Maehle, Bosko Sutalo, Sam Lammers, Luis Muriel, Mattia Caldara, Berat Djimsiti, Francesco Rossi, Matteo Ruggeri, Marco Sportiello, Aleksey Miranchuk, Josip Ilicic, Mario Pasalic.
ATALANTA (3-4-3): Pierluigi Gollini; Rafael Toloi, Cristian Romero, Jose Luis Palomino; Hans Hateboer, Marten de Roon, Remo Freuler, Robin Gosens; Ruslan Malinovskiy, Duvan Zapata, Matteo Pessina.
Juventus have had a poor season by their high standards, seeing their imperious hold over the Scudetto ended by Inter Milan. The Bianconeri can still end the campaign with silverware by winning the Coppa Italia for the 14th time and earning redemption following their loss in the final last term. Andrea Pirlo’s side left it late to beat Inter in their last outing in Serie A, securing a 3-2 victory to defeat the champions courtesy of a goal from the penalty spot from Juan Cuadrado. They will need to be flawless tonight.
Atalanta are aiming to win the competition for only the second time and the first since 1963. La Dea have endured a long wait for silverware, but Gian Piero Gasperini’s men have an excellent chance of ending their drought without a major trophy. The club are unbeaten in their last 10 matches in all competitions, including wins in their last three games. History beckons for Atalanta tonight.
Good evening and welcome to the live commentary of the Coppa Italia final between Atalanta and Juventus at the Citta del Tricolore.
