Vlahovic fires Juventus past in-form Atalanta to win 15th Coppa Italia in Rome
No other side have more Coppa Italia titles than Juventus, and the Bianconeri looked to cap off their season by adding another to the trophy cabinet.
They came flying out of the traps and took the game by the scruff of the neck after just four minutes. A perfectly weighted pass from Andrea Cambiaso was latched on to by Vlahovic, and the Serb showed all of his power to hold off Isak Hien’s challenge before slotting past Marco Carnesecchi.
This sent the Juventus end at the Stadio Olimpico into raptures, and they would have hoped to see their team keep their foot on the gas.
Atalanta, though, were never going to let them have it so easy. Mario Pasalic pounced on a stray pass by Samuel Iling Junior, but his effort was smothered by Mattia Perin in the 12th minute. Then, Charles de Ketelaere swiped a wild effort over from the edge of the box just after the half-hour mark.
De Ketelaere was withdrawn at the break for El Bilal Toure, and the Malian forward held the ball up well on 50 minutes, allowing Ademola Lookman to fire off a long-range effort which took a wicked deflection and spun just wide.
Tempers boiled over seven minutes later when Berat Djimsiti played on as Iling Junior laid on the floor with a potential head injury. His cross picked out Teun Koopmeiners, who flicked his header just wide while many Juve players waited for a whistle that never came - they took exception to the Albanian ignoring their temporarily stricken team-mate.
Juve had to soak up something of an onslaught from La Dea but thought they had sealed victory midway through the second period, only for Vlahovic’s glancing header to be ruled out by the semi-automated offside system.
Prior to this, he had an effort blocked by a combination of Carnesecchi and Marten De Roon which saw Atalanta’s Dutch captain and talisman limp off, meaning they will be sweating on his fitness ahead of next week’s UEFA Europa League final.
Both sides struck the woodwork late on as Lookman’s low drive cannoned off the base of Perin’s post while Fabio Miretti rattled the crossbar at the other end.
Juventus, though, stood firm for their first trophy since these two met in the 2021 Coppa final. Atalanta meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back as soon as possible, with unbeaten Bayer 04 Leverkusen awaiting them in the Europa League showpiece.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus)
