Luciano Spalletti acknowledged that his Juventus squad was outplayed in their loss to Napoli on Sunday, which dropped them to seventh in Serie A. At Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Rasmus Hojlund scored twice around Kenan Yildiz's equaliser, propelling Napoli to the top of the table. Juventus has now suffered three defeats in their last five away matches in Serie A.
Spalletti admitted that Juventus' sluggish start led to their first league defeat since losing to Lazio in October. "It's true, Napoli pushed harder from the start, we were too timid to move the ball around, then lost it cheaply, so they made us run after them," Spalletti told DAZN Italia. He noted that Napoli's strength and quality forced Juventus to chase the game.
Juventus travelled
to Naples without Dusan Vlahovic, who had netted three goals in 13 league appearances this season. Spalletti's choice of Kenan Yildiz as a false nine raised eyebrows, especially with Jonathan David and Lois Openda on the bench. However, Yildiz justified the decision by scoring just before the hour mark.
Yildiz became only the second Juventus player in five decades to score at least five goals in his first 15 Serie A games before turning 21. The last player to achieve this was Alessandro Del Piero in 1994-95. Spalletti expressed confidence in Yildiz and Conceicao's ability to perform well in their roles.
Despite improvements after halftime, Juventus struggled with a lacklustre first-half performance. They recorded an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.1 from two shots. Spalletti emphasised that failing to control the game allowed Napoli to dictate play and make decisions for them.
FT || Full-time.@EASPORTSFC#NapoliJuve pic.twitter.com/q6tmR7kii9JuventusFC(@juventusfcen) December 7, 2025
The match marked an emotional return for Spalletti as he faced his former team at Stadio Maradona for the first time since winning the Scudetto with Napoli in 2023. "Of course, when the fans sing these songs that I know by heart, it is spectacular," Spalletti remarked about the unique atmosphere at Stadio Maradona.
Spalletti acknowledged that there was a significant gap between Juventus and Napoli during this encounter. He stated that Juventus could improve their performance as they gave away too many passes and failed to control the game effectively.
The manager also pointed out tactical issues such as Locatelli playing too deep and forwards lacking mobility. This resulted in Juventus getting stuck in midfield without capitalising on numerical advantages or moving the ball swiftly enough.
