Juventus return to the league with little room left for a slow build. The defeat at Sassuolo in Reggio Emilia has already consumed the margin normally available in the early autumn, leaving Luciano Spalletti’s side to chase momentum as well as points. The immediate task is clear at Continassa: restore a place among Europe’s leading clubs after failing to qualify for the Champions League, a disappointment Spalletti has described as a painful wound.
A demanding run before Spalletti’s birthday
The calendar offers Juventus no gentle route back. Between Sunday’s trip to Cagliari and 1 November, when Spalletti turns another year older in Turin, the club face seven matches across Serie A and the Europa League. It is a sequence that will test the depth of a squad already dealing with significant absences.
- Cagliari away on Sunday evening;
- An Europa League visit to Vigo;
- Lazio at the Allianz Stadium;
- Rennes in Turin;
- Away fixtures against Lecce and Genoa;
- Napoli at home, with Massimiliano Allegri’s side arriving on the evening of Spalletti’s birthday.
Spalletti remains under contract for two more years, and this stretch is an early measure of the wider project. Juventus are three points off the summit, alongside Frosinone, and sit one point behind Cagliari before travelling to Sardinia. Yet the concern is not simply their current league position. Inter and Roma have earned the strongest early approval, and Juventus cannot allow the gap to the leading pair to widen if their ambitions are to remain intact.
The attack and the unfinished matches
Juventus have shown an identifiable character under Spalletti, but recognition is not the same as authority. Their forwards, particularly Kolo Muani and Woltemade, have not found enough opportunities in front of goal, while the wide players have supplied a larger share of the scoring than the centre-forwards.
The coach must find a more reliable route to goal for his number nines, or players operating just behind them. There is also a recurring concern about seeing matches through. Against Atalanta, Juventus had long appeared in control, but the contest could have changed late on when Pierre Kalulu’s obvious hold on Rowe went unpunished.
The situation is made more difficult by injuries to Kenan Yildiz, Khephren Thuram and Manuel Locatelli, among the longer-term absentees. Even so, Spalletti is considered to have enough resources to give meaning to the next three weeks and prevent another stop-start beginning to the campaign.
Cagliari provide a different kind of test
Last season, Spalletti left Cagliari with a defeat he did not feel his team deserved, a result that carried a heavy cost in the league’s economy. This time, Juventus meet a Cagliari side lifted by Daniel Maldini’s goals, Romano’s control in midfield and the work of coach Fabio Pisacane.
The Sardinians are entitled to believe in their own progress, while Juventus know how quickly a favourable atmosphere can disappear. One difficult night in Reggio Emilia has already altered the tone around the Bianconeri. Their response on the island will set the mood for a sequence in which every three days brings another examination.
Backing for Spalletti, but no space for drift
Spalletti retains a harmonious relationship with Juventus ownership and the Continassa environment. John Elkann has been notably close to the coach, both in person and in his thinking, while supporters continue to follow Spalletti with the curiosity born from the expectation that he can find a solution during difficult periods.
There is also no indication that the club are looking elsewhere. Giovanni Carnevali, Juventus chief executive, addressed renewed talk around Antonio Conte by insisting: “We have a project with Spalletti that we must continue.”
That project now needs results. October has often been a productive month for Spalletti, but Juventus cannot rely on reputation or tactical identity alone. The autumn allowance has gone; what remains is a seven-match chase towards 1 November, and a need to ensure that the season’s horizon is still broad when the birthday candles are lit.
