Spalletti: ‘Juventus have to prove strength every time’

Luciano Spalletti warns Juventus ‘are a strong team, but we’ve got to prove it every time we step onto the pitch’ after a hard-fought 2-0 win over Pisa.

It was a tough test for the Bianconeri at the Cetilar Arena, as Pisa hit the woodwork twice with Stefano Moreo and Matteo Tramoni.

They survived that scare and took the lead on 73 minutes when a double ricochet on Weston McKennie’s low cross saw Pierre Kalulu bundle over the line, then Kenan Yildiz tapped in during stoppages after a strong Fabio Miretti run.

“Our tempo was slow, the last 6-7 minutes and first 6-7 minutes of the second half were bad, as Pisa caused problems with their intensity and we were fortunate in those situations,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.

“In the second half, we had more quality, were more inventive, Zhegrova and David did well, giving us more quality in the final third. We were able to score and at that moment of the game I felt it was deserved, as we were creating spaces in the box.

“We ought to do better and we need to do better.”

Check the Football Italia Player Ratings for Pisa 0-2 Juventus

The introduction of Edon Zhegrova seemed to wake Juventus up and he was involved in the build-up for the opening goal.

“Zhegrova had flu and three days with a high fever, so I had doubts he could sustain 35 minutes. But we had to risk it, as we were struggling to create those spaces, and he as we’ve seen is someone with the fuse lit, he knows how to take opponents on and make the right choices,” explained Spalletti.

“I honestly thought he wouldn’t do as well in the circumstances. Khephren Thuram improved as it went on, I really liked Miretti when he came on, so this win boosts our confidence.”

There were quite a few changes this evening, including Teun Koopmeiners returning to a midfield role after a few weeks in defence and a four-man block at the back.

“With various situations this week, I had to make changes. Koopmeiners didn’t show the quality of someone in that role, but perhaps the change affected him, as did switching the wide men around,” explained Spalletti.

“We didn’t suffer that much in the second half, but in that period at the end of the first and start of the second, we did struggle to deal with Pisa’s physicality and they hit the woodwork twice.

“I thought Pisa played very well and it was similar to their defeat against Inter, who suffered here for 70 minutes. Pisa are not fortunate at the moment. Our problem is that we are a strong team, but we’ve got to prove it every time we step onto the pitch, and we were below par in too many ways during the first half.”

This was Juve’s seventh win in the last eight competitive games between Serie A, the Champions League and Coppa Italia, potentially putting them back in the Scudetto race.

The table will look a little unbalanced until mid-January, as Inter, Napoli, AC Milan and Bologna had fixtures postponed to participate in the Supercoppa Italiana.