Juventus cruised to a 3-0 victory over Como on Monday, marking a successful Serie A debut for Thiago Motta with the Turin side. Meanwhile, Atalanta responded to recent transfer disruptions with a commanding 4-0 win against Lecce.
Juve’s goals came from promising youngster Samuel Mbangula, who made an unexpected start on the left flank, Timothy Weah, and a powerful stoppage-time finish by Andrea Cambiaso. This strong performance gave Motta a flawless beginning with Juventus against Como, who were making their first top-flight appearance in over 20 years.
“Como are a good team, and we approached the game with the right mindset. We controlled the ball effectively throughout,” Motta told DAZN.
Juventus could have won by an even larger margin at the Allianz Stadium, creating numerous chances while Como struggled to keep up. Dusan Vlahovic had a particularly frustrating night, hitting the woodwork twice and having a seemingly valid header disallowed shortly after halftime due to an earlier offside by Cambiaso.
Despite being a work in progress with several of Massimiliano Allegri’s preferred players, including Italy forward Federico Chiesa, sidelined to accommodate Motta’s preferred style, Juve has already shown more attractive football under their new coach.
Como, now managed by Cesc Fabregas and backed by tobacco giant Djarum, will get a clearer sense of their prospects for staying in Serie A with their upcoming matches against Cagliari and Udinese.
“Today was a reality check. We need to be better,” said Fabregas to DAZN.
“What I sure was a difference in quality… They were devastating when they took the ball off us and we gave away too many easy balls. That’s not tactics, that’s down to individual quality.”
– ‘Perfect’ Atalanta debuts –
Newcomers Marco Brescianini and Mateo Retegui gave Europa League champions Atalanta a stellar start at Lecce, overcoming a challenging summer marked by long-term injuries and transfer demands from star players.
Brescianini, who joined from relegated Frosinone just on Friday, opened the scoring with a rebound goal 10 minutes before halftime and then added a second with confidence in the 66th minute. His goals framed an almost flawless away performance.
Retegui, the Italian striker, also made a significant impact, scoring a powerful header just before the break and later winning and converting a penalty just before the hour mark.
“It’s better than even I could have imagined,” said Brescianini, who is from just outside Bergamo, where Atalanta are based.
“I’m really happy to be wearing this jersey and I hope to repay the faith the club and fans have shown in me.”
Atalanta have since been hit with serious injuries to both Gianluca Scamacca and star defender Giorgio Scalvini, with a clutch of other players also sidelined.
Meanwhile coach Gian Piero Gasperini was without Teun Koopmeiners and Europa League final hat-trick hero Ademola Lookman, both dropped as they try to leave before the end of the summer transfer window.
“No-one expected to be in this situation,” Gasperini told Sky Sport.
“I have to play it by ear right now… I don’t know what’s going to happen in the coming 10 days but our job is to build as much as we can.”
However before kick-off Atalanta CEO Luca Percassi left the door open for reconciliation with the want-away pair, with Paris Saint-Germain reportedly interested in signing Nigeria forward Lookman.
“Our idea is that for the first time in our history to not let our big players go,” Percassi told Sky Sport.
“We can’t wait for this transfer window to close.”
