Spalletti: ‘Juventus players deserve credit for victory, but we need fans by our side’

REGGIO NELL'EMILIA, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 13: Luciano Spalletti Head Coach of Juventus looks on prior to the Serie A match between US Sassuolo and Juventus at Mapei Stadium - Citta' del Tricolore on September 13, 2026 in Reggio nell'Emilia, Italy. (Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)

Luciano Spalletti said Juventus players ‘deserve all the credit’ for the 2-0 win over Napoli, but hits back at the boo boys. ‘We need our fans by our side, the real face of this stadium.’

The Bianconeri mood was dire going into this game, especially after the 2-0 defeat to relegation battlers Genoa on Wednesday evening.

Juan Cabal hit the woodwork, and Guglielmo Vicario needed a stunning early save on Lorenzo Lucca, but there were two moments of magic late on to seal the 2-0 victory.

Kerim Alajbegovic and Jeremie Boga hit screamers from outside the box, around a Luca Marianucci second bookable offence.

At the final whistle, the coach pulled his staff members into a massive embrace.

“They suffer along with me, they too work from morning till night, I am the first to arrive and the last to leave, but they are usually there with me for most of it,” Spalletti told DAZN Italia.

“However, the credit this evening must go to the team. They managed to dig into themselves and find that desire to take the first step, to go forward, think positive, and then they managed it in the second half with a few adjustments.

“I think tonight they fully deserved the victory, restoring some of the self-esteem in the football they can play.”

It was for long spells far from a convincing performance, but this result can be a massive confidence-booster going forward, so how did it come about?

“The most important speech was made by Carnevali, because they are not accustomed to hearing his voice, so that alone forced the players to prick up their ears, listen and absorb those words, as it was the first time he’d done that,” revealed Spalletti.

“All we can do is be by their side, but there are players who genuinely plunge into this spiral and lose confidence in everything they do, even the most normal things. When there’s a misplaced simple pass or hesitation in making a decision, which is worse than making the wrong decision, that lack of confidence gets transferred to the rest of the team.

“Napoli had started the match well, we hit back two or three times, but as the game wore on, the lads did really well in making the right choices, pushing forward, thinking positive and leaving space behind them that is hard to defend against. The players deserve all the credit this evening.”

There were some fresh concerns, as Weston McKennie went off at half-time with an adductor issue, while Alajbegovic was spotted on the bench with an ice pack strapped to his calf after the goal.

When Spalletti was asked if this Juventus side can be structured to win with the current group or if they need big investments in future, he was not impressed.

“I know the game you are playing, with the pressure to put on the other, to have an advantage. At this moment, we are not structured in anything, because tonight I had to take McKennie off, Sarr had a fever and couldn’t play, all the substitutions I made were forced ones, and we’ve got to play again on Thursday.”

Fans in the Allianz Stadium were shouting insults and calling for the team to show guts from the very first minute of tonight’s match with Napoli, with a protest outside the stadium before kick-off.

“We’ve just got to keep going. This is a moment we have to handle, then you can talk about what you want. Right now, we must be solid, along with a stadium whose real face is that of the second half, fighting alongside the team,” he added.

“You can say Spalletti’s no good, that player’s no good, get rid of everyone, but right now we need to be united, and this stadium must return to being our fortress. Even if we don’t make them that happy, we still need our fans by our side, so we thank all those today who applauded us and stayed with us.

“This is a moment where we need to hold hands and stand together, try to push forward and be positive, which isn’t easy when there are so few of us available. It was a victory deserved by the players, who deserve a big round of applause. Well done, lads.”