Motta's painful Gasperini reunion leaves him gasping for air at Juventus

Thiago Motta has never been shy with his gratitude towards Gian Piero Gasperini. He cites the Atalanta manager extensively in the thesis he submitted while studying for his Uefa Pro coaching licence at Coverciano, describing how the season he spent playing under Gasperini at Genoa reshaped his approach to the game.
He offered thanks again on Saturday, recalling how he had arrived in Italy in a delicate moment of his career – seeking a way back from successive knee injuries at Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. 'I'd just started training again and Gasperini asked me if I could play,' said Motta. 'I said yes, and he said: 'OK, I'll bring you tomorrow and maybe you'll play 10 minutes.' Then he stuck me on in the first half when [Omar] Milanetto got hurt.
'It was from there that I rediscovered my desire to play, I found my smile again. I remembered how to have fun playing football.'
Motta would have a very different expression on his face by the end of their reunion on Sunday. His Juventus side's game against Atalanta began as a showdown between two aspiring contenders for the Serie A title. It ended in a humiliating 4-0 home rout that might prove fatal to Motta's hopes of keeping his job past the end of this campaign.
This was not how it was meant to go. The mood inside Juve's Allianz Stadium before kick-off was more optimistic than it had been for months. Five consecutive league wins had dragged the Bianconeri back into the Scudetto conversation, just six points behind league leaders Internazionale – who they beat in Turin last month. Another victory here would move them ahead of Atalanta into third place by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker.
It seemed like the perfect moment to face Gasperini's team, who had been going through their own crisis of form. Atalanta had won just two of their last nine games across all competitions and failed to score against relegation-threatened Cagliari and Venezia. Juventus boasted the stingiest defence in all of Serie A.
Meanwhile, Gasperini's relationship with his best player, Ademola Lookman, was under scrutiny. The forward had spoken of feeling disrespected by the manager's public criticisms after the Champions League defeat by Club Brugge and subsequently refused to answer questions about whether the matter had been put behind them.
Still, Lookman started against Juventus on Sunday, as he has in several other games since their falling-out. He lined up to the left of Mateo Retegui and Juan Cuadrado in the front line of a lopsided 3-4-3. Right away, Atalanta looked the more threatening team, though their breakthrough in the 29th minute came from a contested penalty.
Marten de Roon's free-kick from the right had been half-cleared by Juventus, before Ederson chipped the ball back into the area. Weston McKennie then committed a clear handball on Berat Djimsiti's header but there was debate about whether the American had been shoved as well as whether Lookman had handled on the initial clearance. A VAR check upheld the spot-kick and Retegui converted.
Atalanta missed chances to extend their lead before half-time but De Roon smashed home a second goal within 50 seconds of the restart. Sead Kolasinac then set up Davide Zappacosta to make it 3-0 in the 66th minute, before Lookman completed the scoring with a run and finish in the 77th after Dusan Vlahovic gave the ball away in midfield.
Motta's thesis is titled The Value of the Ball: the tool of the trade at the heart of the game.' As you might expect from that title, it contains much discussion about the value of possession.
In one section, he recalls a specific conversation with Gasperini, who persuaded him that although direct balls to Genoa's centre-forward Diego Milito could lead to shooting chances, they also removed all other teammates – including himself – from the action, and in doing so reduced the overall likelihood of creating a scoring opportunity. Better to move up together, with the ball, and keep all options open.
Theory is one thing, though, and real life another. Juventus finished with more than 63% of possession against Atalanta yet took fewer than half as many shots as their visitors. If anything, the final scoreline could have been even more lopsided – Juve's Michele Di Gregorio made several good saves.
While it is true that Gasperini prefers to cultivate teams that are comfortable on the ball, his greatest strength has always been his willingness to keep adjusting – within games and across seasons – to exploit his teams' strengths and opponents' weaknesses. As Juventus committed men forward chasing the game, Atalanta increased pressure in the middle of the pitch to create turnovers and became ruthlessly direct in their transitions.
There is a story to be written here about the Bergamo club overcoming recent adversity and reasserting their title hopes, as they continue to sit just three points off first place. Gasperini reminded us before and after this game of how rare it has been historically for Atalanta to occupy such a high position this late in a campaign. We have got so used to seeing them succeed under his leadership that we probably should pause sometimes to remind ourselves that this is not normal.
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Perhaps we also ought to hold that thought for one more week. Atalanta's next game, on Sunday, is at home to Inter. A win would make all things possible. But the reverse fixture, last August, ended in a 4-0 defeat and Atalanta have struggled more lately in their own stadium than on the road.
With 10 games still to play, and Napoli poised in second place, even next week's game will not decide the title race. By contrast, there was a feeling that Sunday's defeat might have fundamentally shifted the discussion about whether Motta should get a second season in charge of Juventus.
Perhaps that is unfair. Motta has overseen an ambitious rejuvenation project this season, fielding the second-youngest teams, on average, of any club in Serie A. His possession-focused tactics represent a sharp change of direction from his predecessor, Massimiliano Allegri, and there have been some high points along the way, including the win over Inter and before that Manchester City.
Yet some of the lows have felt dismal: blowing a first-leg lead against PSV, exiting the Coppa Italia to Empoli and endless draws through the winter. Sunday was a new low. As brilliant as Atalanta are, Juventus can only go so far in excusing their worst home defeat for 58 years.
Cagliari 1-1 Genoa, Como 1-1 Venezia, Empoli 0-1 Roma, Internazionale 3-2 Monza, Juventus 0-4 Atalanta, Lecce 2-3 Milan, Napoli 2-1 Fiorentina, Parma 2-2 Torino, Verona 1-2 Bologna
Monday Lazio v Udinese (7.45pm GMT)
It is hardly all Motta's fault. Juventus spent more than €160m on transfers last summer but the most expensive new additions – Douglas Luiz and Teun Koopmeiners – have been the most disappointing, and came at the cost of allowing some of the most promising young talent on the club's books, such as Dean Huijsen, to be sold. There have also been damaging injuries to key players, most notably the centre-back Bremer.
Fans chanted against their club's directors during the game and booed when the president, Gianluca Ferrero, appeared on the big screen. Many left before full-time. But of the few who remained, some did sing for the return of Allegri.
A change before the end of the season seems unlikely. Juventus's first objective remains qualifying for the Champions League. They ended the weekend still in fourth place, though Lazio will overtake if they beat Udinese on Monday night.
But a scenario in which Motta returns to continue his project next season feels ever more distant. He chided the media at full time for creating false expectations. 'This story with the Scudetto, where you put us among the possible candidates, we're not going to talk about that any more.'

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