The Japan Times - Juventus lurch between crisis club and Serie A challengers ahead of Atalanta visit

Five league wins on the bounce have pushed Juve to within six points of league leaders Inter Milan, with Thiago Motta's fourth-placed team creeping towards the summit just as fans launched protests against the players and coach.

Monday night's 2-0 win over Verona was preceded by furious fans barracking the team in their pre-match hotel, where they were staying as punishment for being dumped out of the Italian Cup by lowly Empoli.

The manner of that defeat, to a team sat in Serie A's relegation zone and with a raft of first-choice players out injured, sparked fury among supporters who had already watched their team get knocked out of the Champions League in the play-offs by collapsing at PSV Eindhoven.

Fans also hung banners by the entrance to the Allianz Stadium in Turin questioning the players' commitment, saying that they "should play in yellow" rather than black and white.

And they were booed off at half-time on Monday, with Juve level only because Tomas Suslov's rocket of a shot was disallowed due to Davide Faraoni straying offside in the build-up to what would have been a wonderful opening goal.

But in the league, Juve have gone from draw specialists to winning machine even though Motta hasn't yet established a convincing style of play on his new team.

Atalanta will be an acid test for Juve as they are the division's best team away from home with no defeats on the road since being hammered by Inter way back in August.

Gian Piero Gasperini's team are still in the Scudetto fight themselves thanks to that away form as they struggle for wins on home turf, and sit three points above Juve in third.

Juve will likely not close the gap on Inter this week as the champions host rock-bottom Monza on Saturday, but an injury crisis and a Champions League tie with Feyenoord could complicate their title defence, especially with a trip to face Atalanta coming up for Simone Inzaghi's team a week on Sunday.

Inter have four of five wing-backs out injured while Hakan Calhanoglu is not at his best after returning from a calf knock.

Former leaders Napoli will be hunting their first win since the end of January when they host Fiorentina on Sunday, boosted by an excellent display in their 1-1 draw with Inter last weekend.

Four draws and one defeat from five matches have left Napoli a point behind Inter in second place but Antonio Conte's side have a softer run-in than Inter and no European commitments clogging up their schedule.

Conte is still awaiting the return of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's replacement David Neres and has Andre-Frank Anguissa out with a calf injury until after the international break later this month.

Player to watch: Teun Koopmeiners

Netherlands midfielder Koopmeiners has been a huge disappointment since signing from Atalanta for an initial 51.3 million euros ($55.2 million) in August, showing little of the dynamism and goalscoring threat that made him such a star in Bergamo.

Koopmeiners' late strike on Monday night was just his third goal of the season in all competitions and came after he replaced Weston McKennie from the bench.

He is not guaranteed a starting spot against his old club Atalanta, who were angered by his behaviour when he held out for a move to Turin over the summer by refusing to play at the start of the season.

Gasperini said in August that he and the club felt "blackmailed" by Koopmeiners who ruined his legacy with Atalanta fans after being one of the stars of last season's historic Europa League triumph.

Key stats

6 - The number of points separating the top four in Serie A

5 - Juve's league winning streak

Fixtures (times GMT)

Friday

Cagliari v Genoa (1945)

Saturday

Como v Venezia, Parma v Torino (both 1400), Lecce v AC Milan (1700), Inter Milan v Monza (1945)

Sunday

Verona v Bologna (1130), Napoli v Fiorentina (1400), Empoli (1700), Juventus v Atalanta (1945)

Monday

Lazio v Udinese (1945)

S.Fujimoto--JT