Spalletti: ‘Juventus lost duels all over the place, not ready to do battle’

GENOA, ITALY - OCTOBER 28: Luciano Spalletti, head coach of Juventus, looks on prior to kick-off in the Serie A match between Genoa CFC and Juventus FC at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on October 28, 2026 in Genoa, Italy. (Photo by Simone Arveda/Getty Images)

Luciano Spalletti warns Juventus ‘lost duels all over the place’ in their 2-0 loss to Genoa. ‘There was no fight, no willingness to battle for the ball. They must understand football has changed.’

The Bianconeri were already under pressure going into Marassi, but the 2-0 defeat to a relegation struggler will only add further fuel to the fire calling for Spalletti’s dismissal.

He abandoned the two-striker system, restoring it in the second half, but by that point they were already trailing to a Kingsley Ehizibue goal and Tommaso Baldanzi’s effort.

Juventus only really seemed like getting back into it with a Teun Koopmeiners deflected free kick off the underside of the bar in stoppages.

Spalletti concerned at Juventus attitude

“We have to apologise to the fans for this performance, first and foremost,” Spalletti told DAZN Italia.

“Anything we say right now can seem wrong, so we need some time to get a clear idea of the situation. It’s tough to talk about the fact Baldanzi dug out a position behind our defence, as we never found the right balance with him.

“We also did our own fair share to help Genoa in their two goals, while we had a couple of really big chances that we were unable to convert.”

It was another huge step backwards in terms of performance, very similar to the 3-0 home defeat to Lazio, and had players seemingly afraid of stepping up.

“It’s difficult to accept the level of running and intensity of challenges, because we lost duels in attack, in defence, we lost them all over the place. Sooner or later, we need to figure out what’s going on and raise the physical level, the willingness to battle for the ball,” confessed Spalletti.

Even with an injury crisis, the sluggish nature of the Juventus squad is a big concern, as they seem to give up too easily.

“We didn’t put in enough all over the pitch and now we’ve got to see if these players even have what is needed. We need to go back to find out what generated this situation,” added Spalletti.

“Admittedly, there wasn’t enough, there was no fight, and that is a situation we’ve dealt with since the start of the season. Now we have to acknowledge it and add something more in terms of battle and physical confrontation.

“I want to watch this game back and understand better what happened, because in the last game three days ago, I saw a completely different attitude for an hour.”

Juventus now face a huge test when Spalletti faces his former club Napoli on Sunday, with the teams tied on 14 points.

“I will experience this as always, with great emotion, because I have a strong sense of humanity and sentiment towards the people of Naples, a city it is impossible not to love when you are inside it. If you manage to win a Scudetto, naturally that is magnified by a thousand.”

Spalletti was asked what he is most worried about after nine rounds of the Serie A season and mixed results in the Europa League.

“What worries me is that I am struggling to let the players understand football has changed. Before anything else, you need to win these duels, deal with being harassed all over the pitch, because that’s what football is now.

“When we try to replicate it in training, we struggle to get them to achieve this level. That’s partly because we don’t have time to train now and have very few alternatives, so the fatigue piles up. That worries me a little.

“Every time we need to take a step forward, try to do something different, but we need the time to make it work, and we don’t have that.”