Spalletti Takes Responsibility After Juventus Collapse at Sassuolo

Luciano Spalletti did not hide. After watching his side overturn the game at Sassuolo only to let it slip again, the Juventus coach walked into the interview area with the defeat still stinging.

“It hurts a lot because the guys deservedly turned the game around,” he admitted. “We lost our balance, and that's something you can't do.”

Juventus had chased the win, not the draw. That was the plan, and Spalletti made it clear it came from him.

“The players tried to go and win it. I was the one who pushed them to go and win this game,” he said. “Perhaps they followed what I asked a little too literally, because in the end we had too many players pushing into the Sassuolo box.”

The intention was bold, almost reckless. Juventus threw bodies forward, hunting a decisive goal, and paid for it on the counter. Spalletti, though, refused to criticise the mindset that drove that late surge.

“You also have to take the positive intention from the team: we lost because we were giving all we could to win it and not draw,” he stressed. “Of course, there's definitely some responsibility on our part, but it all came from the desire to go and win the game.”

Vicario Echoes Frustration

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario stood in front of the cameras with the same mix of regret and anger.

“We’re really disappointed,” he said. “I understand the desire to go and win the game because Juventus have an obligation to do that, but we lost our balance and it's something we'd spoken about during the week.”

That was the most damning part: they knew. The warning had been there in training, in meetings, in preparation. Control the game, manage the spaces, don’t over-commit. On the night, the message went out the window.

“There's regret and anger because the game had turned in our favour,” Vicario added. “We need to be a little more careful because we're a team with a lot of quality.”

Juventus leave Sassuolo with no points, bruised pride, and a clear lesson: ambition is non-negotiable at this club, but can they find that edge without throwing away their balance again?