Luciano Spalletti admits Juventus ‘were inferior’ in every way to Lazio in a 3-0 home defeat and something has to change. ‘I was surprised by this performance too.’
The Bianconeri were just riding the enthusiasm of Thursday’s 2-1 comeback victory away to Celta Vigo in the Europa League, when brought crashing back down to earth this evening in Serie A.
They never really threatened to get a result in Turin, as Lazio emerged 3-0 winners with Oliver Provstgaard’s header, a Gustav Isaksen angled drive and late Fisayo Dele-Bashiru counter-attack.
Spalletti wasn’t on the bench today, because of a touchline ban for his altercation with Fabio Pisacane of Cagliari, so assistant manager Marco Domenichini took his place.
Spalletti worried about Juventus
FROSINONE, ITALY – AUGUST 23: Luciano Spalletti head coach of FC Juventus looks dejected during the Serie A match between Frosinone Calcio and Juventus FC at Stadio Benito Stirpe on August 23, 2026 in Frosinone, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images)
“It was certainly an inferior Juventus, a team that did not control the game, nor have ideas on where to take the game,” Spalletti confessed to DAZN Italia.
“It’s hard to explain it even to ourselves, because we returned at 4am on Friday from Vigo, then let the players recover with the physical performance staff.
“We tried to change a few things, there were six new players, but we were slow both in legs and mind. In football, you can see the opponents, you can see the ball, and if you are too slow to react, show no heart or rhythm, tactics and systems become irrelevant.”
The fans who remained to the final whistle hurled insults and jeered the squad, who are now eight points off top spot in Serie A after just seven rounds.
TURIN, ITALY – OCTOBER 18: Kerim Alajbegovic of Juventus is challenged by Romano Floriani of S.S. Lazio during the Serie A match between Juventus and SS Lazio at Allianz Stadium on October 18, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Chris Ricco/Getty Images)
“Without tempo, without ideas, without running, without the desire to work hard, and when there is fragility in duels, letting heads drop when things aren’t working, those are all things I did not like,” agreed the coach.
Gennaro Gattuso said that players in modern football are more likely to give up at the first sign of difficulty.
“The important thing is to show a reaction, not abandon yourself to events,” replied Spalletti.
“Our careers aren’t just down to luck, we’ve got to fight for those opportunities. We are forced to learn that lesson. There are youngsters today who fight and others who let themselves fall down at the first stumble, but every person has a different character.”
TURIN, ITALY – OCTOBER 18: Kolo Muani of Juventus in action against Nuno Tavares of SS Lazio during the Serie A match between Juventus and SS Lazio at Allianz Stadium on October 18, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
Juve have just 11 points after seven rounds, one fewer than Igor Tudor’s side had at this stage last season, when he faced the imminent sack.
Thiago Motta had 13 points after seven games in his brief campaign, so this is a definite downward trend.
“Clearly, we need to analyse and there are only two possibilities. We can either discuss the way we talk to the team, or the working method. Something has to be modified, evidently,” confessed Spalletti.
“I was surprised by this performance too, so I need to think hard about it, because I haven’t changed my way of talking to the players, I want to communicate with them, to have a good rapport with them. That has always been my way.
“Maybe I need to analyse my own rapport with the team, because it is honest and fair. They will recognise themselves that what we did today is not good enough.”