Spalletti identifies Juventus changes after 3-0 Lazio loss

Luciano Spalletti said Juventus were inferior to Lazio after their 3-0 home defeat on Sunday, 18 October, admitting the performance had surprised him. The assessment, reported by Football Italia, came just days after the Bianconeri had beaten Celta Vigo in the Europa League.

Lazio punished a flat Juventus display

Juventus rarely threatened to recover in Turin as Oliver Provstgaard headed Lazio ahead, Gustav Isaksen added a second with an angled finish and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru sealed the result on a late counter-attack. Spalletti said his side had returned from Vigo at 4am on Friday after their 2-1 comeback win, then had time to recover with the performance staff. Those concerns followed a previous Juventus defeat that had also prompted scrutiny of the team’s competitive response.

Spalletti says changes are needed

Spalletti was absent from the touchline because of a ban following his altercation with Cagliari’s Fabio Pisacane; assistant Marco Domenichini deputised. Juventus have 11 points after seven league rounds, eight behind the leaders. Football Italia noted that Igor Tudor’s team had one more point at the same stage last season, while Thiago Motta’s side had collected 13.

Supporters who stayed until the final whistle jeered and insulted the squad. Spalletti said the response now had to come on the pitch, rather than the players giving in to events, and identified two areas for review: how he communicates with the team and the working method. He said he needed to examine his relationship with the players and decide what must change.

Speaking to DAZN Italia after the match, Spalletti said Juventus had neither controlled the game nor shown a clear idea of how to shape it. He considered the performance unacceptable and said he would reflect carefully on it. His next task is to determine whether the adjustment lies in his approach to the group, the work itself, or both.