Atalanta v Juventus: the brain-teaser

Back-to-back Bianconeri clashes for Atalanta, bound to make their Serie A homecoming after three weeks with the MD19 rescheduling kicking off on Tuesday night. Ready yourself for this rather unusual kick-off with our usual build-up brain-teaser on the game at hand...

Atalanta 2-2 Juventus Serie A 2016/17, when did Freuler score?

On Friday, April 24, 2017 a dramatic showdown unfolded at the Atleti Azzurri stadium as the Serie A MD34 saw Allegri's Juventus drop by in Bergamo to square off against Gasperini's men in the Grugliasco's coach debut campaign at the helm of the Orobic Club. As for more standing context, Atalanta, sitting 5th at the time, were in the thick of the battle for a European spot.

The hosts came out strong from the first minutes also thanks to the "trump card" of deploying Gomez as a "false nine", which added that extra hint of impredictability to the black-and-blue offensive. On 4 minutes it fell to the Argentine to pull off a sublime assist for an on-rushing Hateboer; however, the Dutchman couldn't finish. Atalanta's relentless pressing game, coupled with quick plays between the linesstifled Juventus' attempts to get into their rhythm, nearly paid off again in the 29th minute when Freuler caught Chiellini off guard, linked up with a teammate, and forced Buffon into a one-on-one save. Juventus' first real response came in the 37th minute, when Cuadrado’s strike flew just wide of the post. Then, on the stroke of halftime, Gomez was at it again, as he floated in a brilliant cross to the far post, where Curti arrived just in time to prod it home from close range, putting Atalanta 1-0 up.

After another Hateboer attempt on Gomez's cross right after the break, Juventus hit back in the most fortunate of ways and equalized thanks to an untowards deflection off Spinazzola from Pjanic's free-kick. Berish then sprung into action performing two top-class saves within a minute, first denying Dybala and then Higuain, to keep the game level. While Gomez unleashed another powerful shot that Buffon managed to keep out, and then, in the 67th minute, Berisha pulled off another brilliant save, this time deflecting Khedira's long-range shot around the post. Just minutes later, he was called into action again, producing yet another stunning stop to deny Higuain’s volley.

Although Juventus managed to turn the tables in Bergamo in the 83rd as Dani Alves converted Pjanic’s cross with a diving header, there was one final twist in the tale.... While Gomez fired yet another dangerous strike and Buffon was there to deny him once more, the Nerazzurri's forcing paid off and drove Juventus' defense into a key slip-up as a sloppy clearance on a Hateboer cross from the right-flank allowed Freuler to pounce on the loose ball, tapping in the rebound after Buffon’s initial save to equalize the game.

What did the clock say? 89 minutes

How many times did Cuadrado face Atalanta as a Juventus player?

One of the two former players in the match, alongside Teun Koopmeiners (3, including Gian Piero Gasperini's past in the Bianconeri side of Turin), Juan Cuadrado has played 314 matches for Juventus across all competitions during his 8 seasons in Turin. But how many times has he come up against Atalanta as an opponent?

In total, considering Cuadrado's previous stints at Udinese, Lecce, Fiorentina, Inter, and Juventus, he has faced Atalanta 21 times. Here’s the breakdown: 0 appearances with Inter, 1 with Udinese (in a Juventus shirt), 2 with Lecce (both in Serie A), 5 with Fiorentina (4 in Serie A, 1 in the Coppa Italia), and 13 with Juventus (12 in Serie A and 1 in the Coppa Italia).

Will this be the first Serie A match to be played on a Tuesday evening in Bergamo?

Even though, as far as the league alone is concerned, the Tuesday night recheduling for the Serie A Enilive MD19 will mark a historic first, this wouldn't be the case were we to look at the broader picture: there’s in fact another previous instance where the Nerazzurri and Bianconeri clashed on a Tuesday evening - specifically, in the first leg of the 2017/18 Coppa Italia semifinals. As a further statistical tidbit, this also won’t be the first time the two teams have met on January 14th for the 19th Serie A round either: the match in question dates back to the 1950/51 season. Lastly, while Tuesday evening will be a first in Serie A, what are the most common days these two teams have faced off? At the top of the list is Sunday, with 53 matchups out of 75 total meetings. Next up are Wednesday midweek fixtures (11), Saturday (6), Friday evening (3), and, rounding out the list, a Thursday match during the 2000/01 Coppa Italia quarter-finals.