Ronaldo-less Juve slips to fourth in Serie A after loss to Atalanta

Juve struggled to break down the in-form host without Ronaldo and was forced to defend for much of the second half against Serie A's top scorers.

Published : Apr 18, 2021 20:52 IST

Juventus slipped to a last-gasp 1-0 defeat at Atalanta on Sunday as Gian Piero Gasperini's side leapfrogged the champions into third place in the Serie A standings.

Juve, missing Cristiano Ronaldo due to injury, struggled to break down the in-form host without its Portuguese talisman and was forced to defend for much of the second half against Serie A's top scorers.

It looked as though Juve had done enough to hold on for a point, but substitute Ruslan Malinovskiy snatched a fifth successive league win for Atalanta in the 87th minute, sparking wild scenes of celebration.

Atalanta moved on to 64 points, two ahead of Juventus, from 31 games played. Juve's hopes of a 10th successive Scudetto are now all but over as it trails leader Inter Milan, which plays Napoli later on Sunday, by 12 points.