Atalanta vs Juventus preview - Conte looks to end year on a high

Posted Saturday, December 21, 2013 by PA

Juventus coach Antonio Conte has showered his team with praise ahead of Sunday's match at Atalanta where the Turin giants will look to make it nine Serie A wins in a row heading into 2014.

Juve go into their final game of the year boasting a five-point lead over Roma at the top of the standings following last weekend's 4-0 triumph at Sassuolo.

The win coupled with Roma's 2-2 draw at AC Milan on Monday ensured Antonio Conte's side will start the new year in first place.

Equally impressive is the fact that Juve have kept a clean sheet in their past eight league games.

A delighted Conte said: "To be leading Serie A after 16 games is proof that my players are doing an incredible job. We are getting extraordinary results.

"We have won 14 and lost just one of our 16 league games this season.

"My team has five more points than we had at this stage last season.

"We are on the right track and we hope to end the year on a strong note."

The Bianconeri will have plenty to look forward to in 2014.

Juve will face Trabzonspor in the Europa League round-of-32 in February while they will face Fiorentina in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia next month.

Conte rested his top players in Wednesday's 3-0 triumph over Serie B side Avellino in the Italian Cup.

Atalanta coach Stefano Colantuono is under no illusion of the challenge that awaits his team this weekend.

"The game against Juventus is going to be an extremely difficult one," he said.

"We will try to make life difficult for Juve but we know they have a very talented team."

Atalanta go into the encounter in Bergamo on the back of last weekend's 1-1 draw at Genoa.

The result lifted Atalanta to 13th place, five points clear of the drop zone.

The visitors welcome back midfielder Claudio Marchisio from suspension.