Igor Tudor insisted his Juventus side are in good shape ahead of their Serie A clash against Atalanta, despite a busy start to the season.
Following on from their Club World Cup campaign in the United States, Juventus have picked up 10 points from their opening four league games while also starting their Champions League campaign with a thrilling 4-4 draw against Borussia Dortmund.
The Italian giants drew 1-1 against Hellas Verona last time out, bringing an end to their perfect start to the 2025-26 Serie A campaign.
As they prepare to face Atalanta, Tudor is not concerned about his squad’s fitness with another international break soon to be on the horizon.
“We had two days of rest to recharge. Now we have three matches in a row before the international break and we’ve worked well,” said Tudor.
“I’m not worried, I’m confident, and I believe the team is in good shape. Playing one match per week or three is a different kind of football; it needs to be repeated, and so a coach must be even better at making choices.
“It’s difficult because sometimes you don’t want to give up on certain players. But we paid for this, and we must make as few mistakes as possible. Certain players can play 50 games without problems; it depends on their characteristics.”
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After starting their league campaign with back-to-back draws, Atalanta have bounced back with victories against Lecce and Torino, both by three-goal margins.
However, head coach Ivan Juric believes they must be wary of the threat posed by Juventus, and Kenan Yildiz in particular.
“We have to be humble,” said Juric. “We’re facing a team that have a lot of technical solutions. At Atalanta, we have to think about ourselves.”
“He’s [Yildiz] always made the difference. For me, he’s a complete player and we will have to do our best to try and contain him.
“They have [Francisco] Conceicao, [Edon] Zhegrova, Yildiz and also three very good strikers. They have speed, technique and a lot of different solutions. We will have to be ready in both the defensive and attacking phases.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Juventus – Dusan Vlahovic
In the two matches he has started for Juventus this season in all competitions, Vlahovic neither scored nor provided an assist, while in the three games where he came on as a substitute, he has been involved in five goals (four goals and one assist).
The Serbian has scored five goals against Atalanta in the league, averaging a goal every 88 minutes – his best record for minutes/goals among opponents currently in Serie A.
Atalanta – Nikola Krstovic
Krstovic (two goals and three assists) is one of two players to have been involved in the most goals this season in Serie A (five), tied with Nico Paz.
However, Juventus are one of the four teams he has faced the most times (four) without scoring in the Italian top flight, along with Udinese, Napoli, and Bologna.
MATCH PREDICTION – JUVENTUS WIN
Juventus are coming off six consecutive home wins in the league and could win seven consecutive matches at Allianz Stadium in Serie A for the first time since March 2021, under Andrea Pirlo.
They have also won 10 of their last 11 Serie A matches at Allianz Stadium, losing only to Atalanta on March 9. No team has a higher home win percentage in 2025 in Europe’s top five leagues: 91%, tied with Monaco (10/11) – among all teams with at least two games.
However, Atalanta are unbeaten in their last seven league games at Allianz Stadium (W2 D5); only against Torino (nine between 1973 and 1980) have they recorded a longer streak without a home win in Serie A.
Furthermore, after their 4-0 win in March, Atalanta could win consecutive away games against Juventus for only the second time in Serie A, after doing so between January and October 1989 under Emiliano Mondonico.
Atalanta have remained unbeaten in 10 of their last 11 Serie A matches against Juventus (W3 D7), their only loss in that period coming in May 2023 (2-0 in Bergamo); Atalanta had not won any of their previous 30 matches against the Bianconeri in the competition (D6 L24).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Juventus – 50.4%
Draw – 25.0%
Atalanta – 24.6%
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