Palladino: ‘A magical Atalanta night, I enjoy open games with Juventus’

Raffaele Palladino enjoyed a ‘magical night’ for Atalanta to sweep Juventus aside 3-0 and reach the Coppa Italia semi-final. ‘These open games are the ones I enjoy.’

The atmosphere in Bergamo was special, as they had history with Juve in the Coppa Italia, losing the Final to this opponent in both 2021 and 2024.

The deadlock was broken by a Gianluca Scamacca penalty, awarded via VAR for a Gleison Bremer handling offence on the Ederson cross, then the substitutes made the difference with both Kamaldeen Sulemana and Mario Pasalic on target for the 3-0 result.

Palladino also has history, as he beat Juventus in his first ever game as coach of Monza too.

“That’s true, I cannot deny it,” smiled the former Juve player on Sport Mediaset.

“I am very happy, I thank the lads, the club, all our fantastic fans, we dedicate the victory to them, as the stadium was a cauldron and inspired us. It was a perfect evening, a magical night, as we want to go all the way in this competition.

“We’re giving a sense of consistency to our work, and the substitutes came on with the right spirit, which made the difference. I can count on all these lads, which makes me happy.”

While Juventus perhaps had more scoring opportunities overall, it was Atalanta who were for once the more clinical team.

“We were clinical when we had to be, defended solidly when we had to do that too,” noted Palladino.

“I was impressed with the strength and quality of Juve, facing one of the best coaches in Italy in Luciano Spalletti. Don’t forget they had so many positive results in recent months, that makes this win even more important for us.

“It was a balanced game, we must admit they had the chances to go in front, but these open games are the ones I enjoy. I asked the lads at half-time if they wanted to sit a bit deeper, but they wanted to keep pushing, that’s what I like to hear.”

The last time these teams met in September, the coaches on the touchline were Ivan Juric and Igor Tudor, but a great deal has changed under Palladino and Spalletti.

“The DNA of Atalanta is what we needed to rediscover. This is a group of great guys and they are working so hard to achieve results in three tournaments. We know it is a difficult month with Serie A, the Champions League and Coppa Italia commitments.

“Now I expect a great show of maturity against Cremonese on Monday, because too often we raise our game for these big nights, then play below par against sides that might be inferior on paper, but are not inferior on the pitch. We cannot keep doing that, so that will be a real test.”

Atalanta will now go into the two-legged semi-final against either Bologna or Lazio, continuing their hopes of Coppa Italia glory after coming so close in recent years.

They are also in the Champions League play-offs against Borussia Dortmund, and fighting for a top six spot in Serie A.

“I believe that defence is the best form of attack, so Scamacca and Raspadori pressed the opposition defenders today, we try to win back the ball as quickly as possible. I don’t like to defend deep, neither do Atalanta really since the Gasperini era, so we share the same vision in that sense,” added Palladino.

“It means running risks, but we accept that and go on the attack straight away.”