Spalletti: ‘Juventus made all the wrong choices, Atalanta the right ones’

Luciano Spalletti admits Juventus ‘made the wrong choices, Atalanta made the right ones’ in a 3-0 Coppa Italia quarter-final defeat. 

The Bianconeri were in fine form going into the New Balance Arena in Bergamo, and had beaten La Dea in the Coppa Italia Finals of 2021 and 2024.

However, a controversial penalty changed the quarter-final this evening, as VAR spotted the Ederson cross clipping Gleison Bremer’s hand in a situation where even Atalanta players hadn’t realised anything was amiss.

Gianluca Scamacca converted the penalty, then as Juve threw on new buys Jeremie Boga and Emil Holm, it was Atalanta whose substitutes made the difference, with Kamaldeen Sulemana and Mario Pasalic on target.

“They were better than us in the decisive moments of the match. When you comment on a 3-0 defeat, there’s not much you can say. We congratulate Palladino and Atalanta, it is a well-built team that plays good football,” Spalletti told Sport Mediaset.

“We made the wrong choices when the going got tough. There are moments where the ball moves around and it’s largely about statistics, but when the game gets real, you have to make the right calls, do them quickly and sharply. In those moments, we made the wrong choices, they made the right ones.”

This is a recurring theme for Juventus so far this season, one that Spalletti has complained about before.

“There were spaces to send players through two on one, but instead we took it near the corner flag. We lack the experience sometimes to recognise those situations, but also there are the characteristics of some players that are either there or not. We cannot seem to have that sharpness and clear-headed focus in the decisive moments. It happens.”

Considering the strength in depth at their disposal, it was expected that the Juventus options off the bench would allow them to step up a gear in the second half, but instead it was Atalanta whose substitutes made a strong impact.

“Stepping up a level is also down to the way the whole group trains. We have a few defects, as many teams do, but I feel that we are a team. We just need to recognise these moments of a match that can become decisive, because if you look at the number of chances in this game, the result seems like a false reflection of it,” noted Spalletti.

“We lost 3-0, so it seems odd to say the lads worked hard and put in a good performance. What I didn’t like was in the closing stages we all got spread out and tried to find a breakthrough individually, so we lost organisation too much. We lost some unity.”

Spalletti was asked to be honest on what he thought about that handball for the penalty, but he didn’t take the bait.

“It’s a penalty because it touches his hand. I am interested in other things, I have a different job,” smiled the coach.

“My hardest job is convincing the lads of what really happened in this match tomorrow, not what the result says. They need to see the reality of their performance.”

This result means Juventus are out of the Coppa Italia at the quarter-final stage, remaining in Serie A and preparing for the Champions League play-offs against Galatasaray.