Massara backs Spalletti and urge patience at Juventus: ‘The team is in excellent hands’

REGGIO NELL'EMILIA, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 13: Frederic Massara 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)

Juventus sporting director Frederic Massara has publicly backed Luciano Spalletti, insisting the club retains complete confidence in the coach despite a troubled start to the Serie A season.

Massara spoke to Sky Sport Italia before the Europa League opener against NEC Nijmegen, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb.

“The attitude has to be serious. It is a competition we care about regardless of the possibility of going into the Champions League,” he said. “At Juventus you have to compete at the highest level, which means competing to win.”

Massara asks for patience with a rebuilt squad at Juventus

Asked directly whether Spalletti’s position is already precarious, the director pushed back while acknowledging the standards involved.

“All of us who wear the Juventus uniform have a duty not to minimise even a single point lost, but we also have an obligation to make calm assessments,” Massara said. “And that assessment starts from one certainty: that the team is in excellent hands and that the club has total faith in the coach’s abilities and in the team itself. We are confident that with work this growth process can happen quickly.”

He also pointed to the scale of the summer overhaul as reason for perspective. “During the transfer window we did a lot of interesting things, always within certain limits imposed by UEFA, but we are satisfied with what was done. We know we have changed a lot, there are eight new players on the pitch tonight. Juventus are seventh for minutes played by new signings across the seven biggest European leagues, and that has to make us patient about building something that can be productive.”

On Nick Woltemade, handed his first Juventus start against NEC, Massara rejected the idea that the German was signed purely as a number nine. “We signed him because we consider him a strong striker like Kolo Muani, with whom he can be complementary. We are very confident he can do well from tonight.”

The intervention follows a 3-2 defeat at Sassuolo that represented Juventus’ second-worst league start in eight years, with Spalletti’s name already being raised alongside speculation over Antonio Conte’s availability.