Juventus 2-0 Bologna: Spalletti's side tighten grip on Champions League spot

Juventus edged closer to sealing a spot in the Champions League next season as goals from Jonathan David and Khephren Thuram earned a 2-0 win over Bologna on Sunday. 

Match Report

After Como were beaten by Sassuolo on Friday, the Bianconeri took full advantage to move five points clear of Cesc Fabregas' side with five games of their season remaining. 

Juventus needed just two minutes to open the scoring at Allianz Stadium through David, who expertly glanced Pierre Kalulu's inviting cross into the bottom-left corner. 

Francisco Conceicao thought he had doubled Juventus' lead 10 minutes later when he raced onto David's ball over the top before coolly dispatching past Federico Ravaglia, but the Portugal international just mistimed his run, and the goal was ruled out for offside.

The one-way traffic continued, but the hosts were unable to capitalise, with Conceicao denied by Ravaglia's fingertips before Emil Holm's rasping half-volley rattled the crossbar.

David then fired narrowly wide to cap a commanding opening 45 minutes by Luciano Spalletti's team, and Juventus' dominance was eventually rewarded in the 56th minute. 

Manuel Locatelli's blocked effort fell kindly to Weston McKennie, who took a couple of touches before delivering a pinpoint cross onto the head of half-time substitute Thuram. 

From there, Juventus seemed content to protect their lead and did so comfortably, though Jonathan Rowe did strike the post from close range just after the hour in what was the closest either side came to altering the scoreline. 

Data Debrief: Fast start paves the way for Juventus

Juventus are hitting form at the right time in their quest for Champions League football in 2026-27, with this their seventh Serie A match without defeat, collecting 17 points (W5 D2) during that run, more than any other team in the competition over that period. 

The Bianconeri have also kept five clean sheets across that stretch, though it was David that sent them on their way at the other end. His strike, timed at one minute and 29 seconds, is the fastest Juventus goal in a Serie A home match since August 2022, when Dusan Vlahovic netted against Roma (1:17). 

It was a result that extended their unbeaten run against Bologna at Allianz Stadium, with Juventus now unbeaten against their opponents in their last 14 such matches (W10 D4). 

And Juventus' controlled performance was matched by the metrics, with Spalletti's men registering an expected goals (xG) total of 1.1 from their 14 shots, four of which were on target, while also restricting Bologna to seven off-target attempts, which generated an xG tally of 0.54. 

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

2' GOAL! Juventus 1-0 Bologna (Jonathan David)

12' Match Event for Juventus vs Bologna

23' Highlight from Juventus vs Bologna

34' Highlight from Juventus vs Bologna

44' Highlight from Juventus vs Bologna

47' Match Event for Juventus vs Bologna

57' GOAL! Juventus 2-0 Bologna (Khéphren Thuram)

63' Match Event for Juventus vs Bologna

71' Match Event for Juventus vs Bologna

76' Highlight from Juventus vs Bologna

80' Match Event for Juventus vs Bologna

83' Match Event for Juventus vs Bologna

Line-ups

Juventus XI: Jérémie Boga, Locatelli, Di Gregorio, Gleison, Lloyd Kelly, McKennie, Jonathan David, Francisco Conceição, Kalulu, Emil Holm, Andrea Cambiaso

Subs: Pinsoglio, Kostic, Koopmeiners, Openda, Edon Zhegrova, Khéphren Thuram, Fabio Miretti, Simone Scaglia, Gatti, Yıldız

Bologna XI: Freuler, Jhon Lucumí, Orsolini, Tommaso Pobega, Federico Ravaglia, Juan Miranda, Simon Sohm, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Nadir Zortea, Santiago Castro, Eivind Helland

Subs: De Silvestri, Charalampos Lykogiannis, Bernardeschi, Nikola Moro, Jens Odgaard, Lewis Ferguson, Torbjørn Heggem, João Mário, Martin Vitík, Jonathan Rowe, Massimo Pessina, Francesco Castaldo, Matteo Franceschelli