Juventus vs. Atalanta: the Bianconeri’s home hoodoo since 2018

Eight years can feel like an eternity in football. Coaches change, players change, the balance of power shifts and sometimes even habits do. One thing, however, has remained surprisingly constant: when Atalanta travel to Turin to face Juventus in Serie A, returning home empty-handed has become almost unthinkable.

To find the Bianconeri’s last home victory in this fixture, you have to rewind to 14 March 2018. Juventus 2-0 Atalanta, with Higuaín and Matuidi on the scoresheet. It feels like another era because, in footballing terms, it really was: Massimiliano Allegri was steering Juve towards a seventh consecutive Scudetto, while Gian Piero Gasperini was still building the machine that would take La Dea to another level.

Since then, a very different story has unfolded in Turin.

FROM ONE 1-1 DRAW TO ANOTHER, WITH UNFORGETTABLE MATCHES IN BETWEEN

The first warning sign came as early as May 2019. Juventus had already been crowned Italian champions, while Atalanta were closing in on a historic place in the Champions League. It finished 1-1, with Mandžukić cancelling out Iličić’s opener.

A year later, the world had changed completely, and Juventus vs. Atalanta took place in July, in the middle of football’s post-lockdown summer. La Dea twice went in front, first through Zapata and then Malinovskyi, but two Cristiano Ronaldo penalties made it 2-2. It was perhaps the clearest illustration of the new balance of power in the fixture: Atalanta were no longer coming to Turin simply to hold out. They were coming to take Juventus on.

By winter 2020, Juventus had changed coaches, but the two sides still couldn’t be separated: 1-1, with Chiesa on target for the hosts and Freuler for Atalanta. Three draws in a row in Turin.

Then, in November 2021, the breakthrough finally came. Duván Zapata scored the only goal of the game, handing Atalanta their first Serie A victory away to Juventus in more than 30 years. By then, Atalanta’s unbeaten run in Turin no longer looked like a statistical quirk. It was becoming a pattern.

GOALS, COMEBACKS AND A SIX-GOAL THRILLER

The first four matches in the run had produced relatively modest scorelines, but in January 2023 Juventus and Atalanta served up something completely different.

A thrilling contest full of twists and turns ended 3-3. Lookman scored twice for Atalanta, while Di María, Milik, Mæhle and Danilo also found the net. Six goals and another point apiece. By then, the pattern was clear: the players, formation and stage of the season might change, but Juventus vs. Atalanta in Turin still refused to belong to either side.

This continued in March 2024. Koopmeiners struck twice for Atalanta, while Cambiaso and Milik scored for Juventus in another 2-2 draw. Another meeting, another stalemate.

Then came the most emphatic result of the entire run.

THAT 4-0 AWAY WIN IN 2025

On 9 March 2025, Atalanta blew Juventus away with a 4-0 win at the Allianz Stadium. Retegui, De Roon, Zappacosta and Lookman were all on target as La Dea recorded the biggest win of the entire sequence, taking Juventus’ home struggles in this fixture to a new level.

The following season, everything changed again. New faces, a different Juventus and a different Atalanta. Yet their next meeting in Turin ended exactly as the run had begun: 1-1.

Eight consecutive Serie A meetings at the Allianz Stadium without a Juventus victory: six draws and two Atalanta wins.

EIGHT YEARS ON, HERE WE ARE AGAIN

Since 2018, Juventus vs. Atalanta has lived through what feels like an entire footballing era. Juventus are rebuilding as they seek a return to the top, while Atalanta have gone from their first nights in the Champions League to lifting a European trophy. Coaches have come and gone in both dugouts, bringing different ideas and ushering in new eras.

The stakes will be high at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday, with both sides looking to bounce back from unexpected defeats. Three points will be on the line, but Juventus also have an unwanted statistic to put to bed. Atalanta, meanwhile, have an impressive recent record to protect.