Atalanta Ends Juventus's Reign in Coppa Italia After 4 Straight Titles
MILAN (AP) — Four-time defending champion Juventus lost in the Italian Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday, while Roma lost 7-1 at Fiorentina and had forward Edin Dzeko sent off after apparently spitting at the referee.
Juventus is on course for a record-extending eighth successive Serie A title and had won the league and cup double in the past four seasons, but it surprisingly lost 3-0 at Atalanta.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri was also sent to the stands for dissent shortly before halftime after throwing his coat to the floor in anger at something in the buildup to Atalanta’s second goal.
“It was right to send me off, I was losing my temper and the refereeing was impeccable during the whole match,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. “Compliments to the referee. At that moment I paid for my anger. The lads are feeling low, but now we’ll grit our teeth. These matches can happen. There’s nothing to blame the guys for, especially given what they’ve done up until now.”
Fiorentina will play Atalanta in the two-legged semifinal. The other match pits AC Milan against either city rival Inter Milan or Lazio, which face each other on Thursday.
Atalanta had not beaten Juventus since a 2-0 victory in the Italian Cup in 2004, with five draws and 21 defeats in all competitions since that victory.
Both teams lost key players to injury in the 27th minute, as Josip Ilicic and Giorgio Chiellini limped off. Ten minutes later Chiellini’s replacement, Joao Cancelo, was caught in possession by Timothy Castagne, who sprinted forward and smashed it into the far bottom corner to give Atalanta the lead.
Duvan Zapata doubled Atalanta’s lead two minutes later with his 16th goal in his past 10 games.
The Bianconeri tried to fight back after the break but couldn’t find a way past a determined Atalanta performance and Zapata sealed the result with his second of the match four minutes from time.
