Spalletti: ‘Juventus deserved more, but will win with this spirit’

Luciano Spalletti insists Juventus ‘deserved to take the lead’ in their 1-1 Champions League draw with Sporting CP, but ‘if we continue with this spirit, we will win many games.’

The new coach only made his debut on Saturday in a 2-1 Serie A victory over Cremonese, as Igor Tudor was fired just eight days ago.

Maximiliano Araujo’s early angled drive was cancelled out by a Dusan Vlahovic tap-in at the near post, but a late flurry of chances was not enough to secure the first Champions League victory of the season.

“Sporting are a very good team, because they play an attacking style of football, they like to keep possession and have a ferocious press,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.

“We had a complicated start, then this great reaction, we took the game in hand and deserved to take the lead, creating three or four good chances. At the start we lost the ball too cheaply, weren’t clean enough in our passing, struggled under pressure, but in general after that the team played well.

“What gives me confidence is that we have talented players with quality who can make the difference when taking men on. Dusan worked so hard throughout too. We need to improve the speed of our passing, to circulate the ball and make the opponents move around.”

The Bianconeri rather lost intensity as the game wore on and Manuel Locatelli suffered cramp.

“There is the risk of being too attacking against Sporting, as they are so good at playing in tight spaces, that is the Portuguese school of football,” noted Spalletti.

“We took possession off them and at times were a little too frenetic with our choices, giving the ball back after winning it. We had to claw it off them with tooth and nail, whereas we gave it back to them too easily.

“I still believe this is a strong team, I am convinced that if we continue with this spirit, we will win many games.”

It is no secret that Italian football has a slower tempo than many other European leagues, and that is shown up all too often in the Champions League.

“Clearly, passing the ball quickly is what makes the difference, but there are many different phases of the game. Sometimes you have to pin the opponents back, move them around and pick the moment to break through. At others you have to counter and get the finish as quickly as possible,” added Spalletti.

“It’s about knowing which is which. Everyone knows how to press, how to defend in a block, it’s about understanding the various phases of the game, sensing what is possible, and we need to improve in that.”

This means Juve run the very real risk of first stage elimination, having amassed only three points from the opening four match days, with a goal difference of -1.

It is a tough fixture list coming up, with a trip to Bodo/Glimt always tricky in November, then hosting Pafos and Benfica, before finally visiting Paul Pogba’s AS Monaco.

This was the first Champions League match for Spalletti on the Juventus bench, but also his first in Turin, so how was this home debut?

“The stadium was packed, it’s a beautiful atmosphere with everyone surrounding you. The players felt it too with a good performance, we can always improve, but I feel we can achieve something together,” concluded Spalletti.