Spalletti: Time for Juventus to show what they can do
The new Serie A season starts for Juventus with a trip to Frosinone, and Luciano Spalletti faced the press ahead of the first official match of 2026/27.
The Juventus coach is pleased with the way the team worked during pre-season and gave special praise to the organisation within the club and the people who worked with the squad in recent weeks.
His message ahead of the league opener is clear:
"Now we have to go out on the pitch, give everything and show the desire to be successful."
Spalletti believes this year's Juventus has many new elements, above all players capable of creating situations on their own and finding solutions on the pitch. He stressed that football is constantly evolving and that both the coach and the players have to be able to adapt to change.
Special words for Alajbegovic
One player Spalletti singled out in particular is Kerim Alajbegovic.
The Juventus coach believes different signings bring different qualities and that the team has made significant progress compared to where it started. For the young Bosnia and Herzegovina international he had a particularly interesting description:
"Alajbegovic is one of those players who give you a spark."
Spalletti explained that he sees in him the ability to transfer an idea from his head onto the pitch very quickly.
Alajbegovic, in his words, knows how to read a situation and anticipate what will happen before the play develops.
The Italian coach uses his own term for that ability, "temporal shock", a kind of time jolt with which a player speeds up the situation and reacts before his opponent.
Douglas Luiz and Nico Gonzalez surprised him
Spalletti then turned to two players who are not new to Juventus but with whom he had not worked before: Douglas Luiz and Nico Gonzalez.
Both, in his words, made a very positive impression.
"They impressed me with their level, their playing quality and their character."
Their pre-season performances further increased the competition for places, which Spalletti considers very important ahead of a long season. Juventus, in his assessment, are therefore entering the new campaign with plenty of confidence.
As many as seven or eight clubs aiming for the top
When it came to the Serie A race, Spalletti refused to underestimate the competition.
In his estimation, as many as seven or eight teams have the quality needed to fight for the top four.
Juventus finished last season outside those places, which is why the coach believes the Bianconeri now have to prove on the pitch that they deserve a return to the very top.
"Talk does not mean much. We have to become a team and find the right balance."
Spalletti believes Juventus have improved, but he does not want to draw final conclusions from the pre-season period.
The results, he says, will show how much the team has really progressed.
"We will play to achieve the maximum"
This season, alongside the domestic competitions, Juventus will also play in the Europa League, and Spalletti said clearly that the team will have to win a large number of matches on both fronts.
The reason is simple: expectations exist at every level of the club.
"The owners, the team and the fans, everyone wants success."
Spalletti revealed two starters against Frosinone
The Juventus coach also spoke directly about the first opponent. He congratulated Frosinone on their return to Serie A and praised the work of his friend Massimiliano Alvini.
And then he revealed an important piece of information about the starting eleven:
"Vicario and Kolo Muani will start the match."
Spalletti's idea of the new Juventus
Spalletti wants a team that has freedom and organisation at the same time.
His idea is for individuals to be able to switch positions and combine in different areas of the pitch, without the collective balance ever being lost.
His final message perhaps best describes the Juventus he wants to build:
"It is no longer system against system, but behaviour against behaviour."
It is also a hint of the Juventus we can expect this season: less tied to a rigid formation, more about movement, positional rotation and the players' decisions on the pitch.
The first real test comes immediately. Juventus open the 2026/27 season against Frosinone, and Spalletti makes no secret of the goal: the team has to show on the pitch that it was built to return to the top.
Source: Juventus.com – Luciano Spalletti
