Buffon: ‘Juventus would be in Scudetto race if Spalletti had started’

Italy delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon claims Juventus ‘would’ve been in the Scudetto race’ if Luciano Spalletti had started the season rather than Igor Tudor.

The Bianconeri are in action this evening by hosting Cremonese at the Allianz Juventus Stadium in Turin.

It kicks off at 19.45 GMT (20.45 CET) and you can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

A victory here would put them in joint third place with Napoli and Roma, although the Partenopei do still have a game in hand.

“Juve started with a bit of a handicap and needed to bridge that gap,” Buffon told reporters as he attended the Teatro di Campioni event in Genoa.

“Doing that against teams like Inter and Napoli becomes tough, so a few draws might’ve promoted people to turn up their noses at them, but Spalletti’s influence on this team is unequivocable and evident.

“Juve are growing a great deal recently, and if Spalletti had been there from the start, they would’ve been in the Scudetto race.”

The new coach took charge on October 30 2025 when Tudor was sacked, himself only replacing predecessor Thiago Motta under a year before that.

Since Spalletti has been at the helm, Juve have picked up six Serie A victories, three draws and one defeat to Napoli.

That is the only loss they experienced under him, along with three wins between the Champions League and Coppa Italia, and a stalemate.