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Juventus suffered a fatal blow to their slim title hopes after Atalanta snatched a late 1-0 victory at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia in a 2020-21 Serie A game.
Ruslan Malinovskiy scored in the 86th minute to give La Dea a key victory that has boosted their Champions League qualification hopes.
Without star player Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus appeared toothless up front, mustering just one shot on target from 11 attempts.
The home side were also guilty of missing a few chances, even though goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny deserves credit for his heroics late in the game. Yet, there was nothing Szczesny could do to stop the winning goal, as Malinovsky's terrific long-range effort took a nasty deflection on its way in, leaving the Juventus custodian stranded.
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The defeat leaves Juventus in fourth and hanging onto a Champions League place as their slim hopes of a tenth consecutive Scudetto are all but over.
On that note, let's take a look at five hits and flops from the match:
Hit: Ruslan Malinovskiy (Atalanta)
Cometh the hour, cometh Ruslan Malinovskiy. The supersub came off the bench to make the difference for Atlanta, condemning Juventus to a defeat with a special goal.
The Ukrainian launched a 25-yard pile driver after latching onto Josip Illicic's quick corner. Even though the ball took a deflection off Alex Sandro on its way into the net, his sheer audacity to even attempt a shot like that was ridiculous.
Malinovskiy doesn't score too many goals, but whenever he does, he makes sure they are big ones.
Flop: Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
Just when it was thought he had returned to form and still had the ability to lead Juventus, Paulo Dybala dropped a stinker against Atalanta.
With Cristiano Ronaldo sidelined from the clash, this was an opportunity for the out-of-favour Argentine to make an impression. But other than three key passes in the opening stanza, there was nothing of note from him.
Dybala failed to muster a single effort on goal, showing he isn't a prolific scorer like he used to be.
Hit: Jose-Luis Palomino (Atalanta)
His name is seldom in the limelight for Atalanta. But after the Juventus game, Jose-Luis Palomino is sure to garner headlines, as he delivered a defensive masterclass against the Bianconeri.
The 31-year old showed excellent positional awareness whenever Juventus broke forward. He read the game well, making seven interceptions, the most in the game, and four clearances as well.
He dealt with Dybala and Morata's threat well, getting aggressive at the right time while also showing composure in tense moments, as Palomino turned in his best shift of the season.
Flop: Alex Sandro (Juventus)
Alvaro Morata and Rodrigo Bentancur were poor enough, and some would put either of them ahead of Alex Sandro here. But the Brazilian has been really poor for some time and was atrocious on the night.
Sandro has offered precious little in the Juventus attack for more than a year now, making it seem like he's more of a liability to the team, producing nothing of note going forward against Atalanta.
The 30-year old made some vital clearances in the game but lost possession cheaply. That allowed La Dea to hit Juventus on the break, which made Sandro's overall defensive game look just as poor.
Juventus must seriously consider buying a new left-back in the summer.
Flop: Andrea Pirlo (Juventus)
After this loss, it's difficult to see him staying beyond this season, as Andrea Pirlo doesn't seem like the right man for the job.
Following some promising results and performances during the opening weeks of the season, the former Juventini appeared to steer the club in the right direction. But as the season has wore on, he has cut an increasingly listless figure on the sidelines.
Juventus have had no real attacking structure and looked completely lost without Ronaldo, showing no intent to penetrate the box - all of which raises questions about Pirlo's tactics or a lack thereof.
Pirlo was outwitted by Gian Piero Gasperini on the night and now faces a litmus test of his coaching acumen in the final few games.
