MILAN
\nJuventus played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Atalanta in their first match since being slapped with a massive points deduction for illicit transfer activity, Roma taking their place in Serie A\u2019s Champions League positions following a 2-0 win at Spezia.
\nItaly\u2019s biggest football club were rocked on Friday by the Italian Football Federation\u2019s decision to dock them 15 points after ruling they had managed capital gains from transfers to artificially benefit their accounts.
\nThat decision, which leaves them ninth in Italy\u2019s top flight on 23 points, drew howls of disapproval from Juve fans at the Allianz Stadium before a hugely entertaining encounter and was blasted as \u201cunjust and unequal\u201d by CEO Maurizio Scanavino pre-match.
\nBut the team showed fight to twice come back from going behind to Ademola Lookman goals to draw an exciting encounter, with Danilo\u2019s drive midway through the second half eventually earning his team a point.
\nJuve are 14 points from the Champions League positions, a bad situation for a club whose last accounts were nearly 240 million euros in the red and have various bodies examining their financial conduct.
\nI think we\u2019d need 71 points to get into the Champions League… We need to look at the reality who how things are, said coach Massimiliano Allegri.
\nJuventus had been leading at half-time when Angel Di Maria\u2019s 25th-minute penalty cancelled out Lookman\u2019s early opener before Arkadiusz Milik\u2019s superb volley nine minutes later.
\nBut the hosts were rocked again when Nigeria forward Lookman sent Joakim Maehle through to level seconds after the break.
\nLookman then thumped home a perfect header in the 53rd minute to take his tally in his debut Serie A season to 11 before Danilo made sure both teams would share the spoils and leave Atalanta in fifth place.
\nWe\u2019re in a good position now but there\u2019s a long way to go…. this is a very strange season and we don\u2019t know what will happen, said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
\nI don\u2019t like it when the table changes during the season, it should be done at the start or the end, otherwise you haven\u2019t got credibility.
\nRoma are fourth, level on 37 points with Inter who host Empoli on Monday and just one behind second-placed AC Milan ahead of the champions\u2019 trip on Tuesday to take on Lazio, who will move above Jose Mourinho\u2019s side into the top four with a win.
\nThey came away with the three points at Spezia despite the absence of Italy international Nicolo Zaniolo, who refused to be picked in the matchday squad and was openly criticised by the club\u2019s general manager Tiago Pinto pre-match.
\nPinto said of Zaniolo that \u201cpersonal interests have been put ahead of the collective good\u201d with over a week remaining in the winter transfer window, adding that \u201cit\u2019s not the first time this has happened\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MILAN Juventus played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Atalanta in their first match since being slapped with a massive points deduction for illicit transfer activity, Roma taking their place in Serie A\u2019s Champions League positions following a 2-0 win at Spezia. Italy\u2019s biggest football club were rocked on Friday by the Italian Football Federation\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-309555","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n