Juventus 2-0 Atalanta: Francisco Conceição and Bremer end Sarri's return to Turin in defeat

Juventus needed a response after two games without a win, and they got it against a familiar opponent. Francisco Conceição gave them the lead in the 28th minute and Bremer headed a second midway through the second half, as Luciano Spalletti's side beat Atalanta 2-0 at the Allianz Stadium — a result that also condemned Maurizio Sarri, the former Juventus coach, to a third straight defeat.

Conceição, then Bremer

Zeki Çelik's cross from the right found Conceição, who guided a first-time finish into the bottom corner to open the scoring. Atalanta pushed back without ever really threatening an equaliser, and Juventus made sure of the points in the 77th minute, when substitute Edon Zhegrova's out-swinging corner was met by Bremer, who powered a header past Marco Carnesecchi from close range.

A third straight loss for Sarri's Atalanta

It continued a miserable run for Atalanta, who arrived in Turin having lost 1-2 away at Roma and then 1-2 at home to Cagliari in their two previous league games. Three defeats in three matches is not the kind of form Sarri, who won the Serie A title with Juventus in the 2019-20 season before a Champions League last-16 exit to Lyon cost him the job that summer, wanted to bring back to the club that gave him his best domestic achievement. His side managed only two shots on target all afternoon, and were reduced to defending set pieces for long stretches once Juventus went ahead.

Spalletti's rebuild continues

For Juventus, the win matters beyond the three points. Spalletti was appointed in the close season after Igor Tudor's dismissal, taking over a squad that had underwhelmed the year before, on a deal running to the end of the season. A Serie A title winner with Napoli in 2023 and formerly Italy's head coach, he has had to build a new team identity quickly, and Bremer's role in both boxes — marshalling Atalanta's forwards for 90 minutes before scoring the goal that settled it — was exactly the kind of two-way performance from a senior player that a rebuilding side needs from its captain figures.

Atalanta's rocky September

Match facts

Line-ups

Where it leaves both clubs

Before this round, Guriball's table had Juventus in the top half and Atalanta mid-table after an uneven opening month. The win takes Juventus to ten points from five games — three wins, one draw, one defeat — and keeps them fifth, in the Europa League place, level on points with Como and one behind fourth-placed Frosinone. Atalanta stay 11th on six points, with only two wins from five matches and a goal difference of -2, a tougher position than their squad's reputation suggests.

What's next

Juventus go into the international break with form to build on after a difficult opening month under Spalletti, level on points with fourth place and only a game away from the Champions League zone if results elsewhere turn their way. Sarri, meanwhile, will use the fortnight to try to stop the bleeding — three defeats in three is not a pattern any club wants heading into the rest of September, and Atalanta's next assignment will need a response as sharp as the one Juventus produced here.