Juventus approach the meeting with NEC knowing that a Europa League night can carry the weight of a far greater occasion. The competition is not the Champions League, but the pressure around the club has made it feel like one: a result that could steady Luciano Spalletti’s opening weeks, or deepen the sense that another cycle is slipping away before it has properly begun.
Juventus face a defining NEC night amid Spalletti pressure
The title drought has become an uncomfortable part of the Juventus story. By the time 2027 arrives, the club will have gone seven years without the Scudetto, after six completed seasons outside first place. There have been similarly long waits after previous eras of dominance: nine championships passed following Giovanni Trapattoni’s first great side, and the same number after Marcello Lippi’s second spell. Yet the domestic gap is still modest beside Juventus’ European absence.
The Champions League triumph of 1996 remains the last major continental cup lifted by the club, leaving a wait of more than three decades. The Intercontinental Cup and Super Cup that followed soon afterwards do not alter that picture. Five losing finals between 1997 and 2017 once appeared to represent a painful European fate; now even reaching the Champions League has become an uncertain objective.
That is why NEC, a Dutch opponent with far less of Juventus’ history, presents its own danger. The visitors are regarded as inferior on paper, which can make the occasion mentally awkward for a side already short of certainty. Juventus’ European tradition began with the UEFA Cup in 1977, the first trophy in a long sequence. The club need not romanticise that past, but it does need a performance that gives the season a direction.
Spalletti is already under scrutiny after four league rounds, with suggestions that the team has not fully absorbed his command. Antonio Conte’s name has entered the conversation, while the games against NEC and Atalanta before the long international break could become decisive. At Juventus, the period in which the coach was beyond question has long passed. Maurizio Sarri, Andrea Pirlo, Massimiliano Allegri, Thiago Motta and Igor Tudor were all either dismissed or not retained; Motta and Tudor departed during seasons as the club attempted to rescue difficult campaigns.
The present uncertainty has roots in the years following the Conte-Allegri-Sarri run of nine consecutive league titles. Juventus surrendered much of the sporting and financial advantage built in that period while pursuing Cristiano Ronaldo, a choice few major clubs would have ignored, and broader ambitions that proved too expensive to sustain. They now appear behind Inter, Como and Roma, while a succession of forced decisions has widened the gap.
Still, an early verdict would be premature. This Juventus side has more attacking alternatives and greater individual quality than last season’s group. Injuries have weighed heavily, while some unavoidable transfer decisions have remained difficult to understand after the warnings offered by the previous campaign. The central issue is personality: Juventus lack a midfield organiser and dressing-room reference capable of turning eleven separate performances into a collective response when a match begins to turn, as it did against Sassuolo.
Manuel Locatelli is neither Andrea Pirlo nor Rodri, but his presence might have prevented the defensive collapse that brought three goals conceded in that game. Sporting director Cristiano Carnevali’s priority for January is expected to be the search for a genuine deep-lying playmaker. Douglas Luiz has not yet filled that role, with no memorable decisive pass, breakthrough action or assist to point to.
For Spalletti, the immediate task is to find solutions from within. One possibility is to move Nico González deeper alongside the two midfielders. The Argentine has been the player most willing to take responsibility in the first phase, combining quick movement with speed of thought. Further forward, Randal Kolo Muani should not be reduced to playing with his back to goal, or he risks the same kind of isolation that has affected David, despite David’s three World Cup goals and two against Atletico.
With service from wide areas and closer support, Kolo Muani could resemble the smaller version of Victor Osimhen once envisaged by Spalletti. At present, however, he is more effective starting from the flank, facing the opposition goal, accelerating past defenders and cutting inside. Juventus may instead require a more natural penalty-box presence through the middle, whether that is Nick Woltemade or even Federico Gatti.
Spalletti’s strongest teams have often been shaped by bold adjustments rather than caution. Juventus need that imagination again. NEC may offer the beginning of a recovery, but failure would make this early season feel much closer to a breaking point.
SEO Title: Juventus vs NEC: Spalletti faces a crucial European night
SEO Description: Juventus meet NEC under growing pressure on Luciano Spalletti, with a title drought, European decline and midfield concerns shaping a pivotal week before Atalanta.
