On Sunday, Atalanta and Juventus shared the spoils following a rather uninspiring stalemate in Bergamo.
In the final stretch of the match, Gleison Bremer sustained a cramp. Therefore, Max Allegri replaced him with Daniele Rugani.
While awaiting his team’s contest against Frosinone, Roma boss Jose Mourinho was keeping an eye on the action at the Gewiss Stadium.
The Special One admitted feeling envious of the Juventus manager who had the luxury of bringing one capable defender for another.
“When I saw Bremer getting injured today and then Rugani taking his place, I thought to myself: ‘How lucky are you, Max’. I don’t have such fortune,” said the 60-year-old in his post-match interview via Calciomercato.
“Let’s hope for a small miracle for the next matches. But I don’t know.”
Mourinho was referencing his defensive injury crisis. With Chris Smalling and Diego Llorente out, the Giallorossi manager had to thrust Bryan Cristante at the heart of his three-man backline in between Gianluca Mancini and Evan Ndicka.
Nevertheless, the Romans did enough to earn a 2-0 win over Frosinone. Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock with a low drive in the first period, while Lorenzo Pellegrini secured the result with a strike from a narrow angle.
Former Juventus star Paulo Dybala was once again decisive, providing both assists, which might leave Bianconeri fans feeling a bit less fortunate than what Mourinho suggests.
Juve made a big mistake when they let Dybala go, they made this decision when for 7-8 mil salary he could still be here fighting for his place in this team. From 7 years that we had him, this year and last one we needed him the most.