Over the first three weeks of the 2026-27 season, Juventus’ attack has been … inconsistent.
(That might be a charitable way to describe how the Bianconeri’s offense had looked coming into their matchup against Sassuolo on Sunday, but my therapist says I need to look for the positive in people more.)
As shoddy and stale as things have sometimes looked going forward, the other end of the field was looking a lot like a strength. Juve had only allowed one goal in their first three games, the lone blemish
being Alphajo Cissè’s strike last week taking advantage of a singular defensive mistake. Jhon Lucumí looked to be combining seamlessly into the defense with Bremer, Zeki Çelik looked more solid than anyone we’ve seen on the left flank since Alex Sandro was in his 2016-2019 prime, and Pierre Kalulu had started the season very much the stalwart he’d been since arriving two summers ago.
But in the course of 90 minutes in Reggio Emilia, it all fell apart. Bremer and Kalulu committed costly errors that allowed Sassuolo their first two goals, before a you-can’t-possibly-write-this ending saw on-loan midfielder Vasilije Adzic give the home side a 3-2 victory on the game’s final kick — a year to the day after his stoppage-time pile driver won Juve a chaotic Derby d’Italia at the Allianz.
It was a grim way to lose their first game of the year, and highlights the need for quick improvement.
How’d the players do on an individual level in this disappointing matchup? Let’s take a closer look.
GUGLIELMO VICARIO – 6. Did everything he needed to and wasn’t at fault on any of Sassuolo’s goals. Indeed, he was hung out to dry three times.
PIERRE KALULU – 4.5. A second consecutive dud from the normally reliable Frenchman. He completely lost Sebastiano Esposito on Sassuolo’s first goal and had practically zero impact on the attack from the flank. Everyone has to have a down game or two at some point, and given how well Kalulu has played the last two years he’s certainly been due for one. Let’s just hope he gets over it soon. Very soon.
BREMER – 4.5. Led the team in interceptions and at least had a key pass, but he wasn’t at the level we’ve seen early on either. He shared some responsibility for losing Esposito on Sassuolo’s first goal and completely whiffed trying to tackle Daryl Bakola on their second. Not a great moment for him, and he’ll need to get back into things quickly.
JHON LUCUMÍ- 6. Completed 97 percent of his passes and looked solid, but was withdrawn at the half after pulling a yellow card 20 minutes in, and things kinda went downhill after that.
ZEKI ÇELIK- 6. One of three starters to have recorded two key passes, and he tied for the team lead with three tackles. Proving to be a savvier and savvier signing by the week.
TEUN KOOPMEINERS – 5. Didn’t seem to mesh into the midfield in place of the injured Manuel Locatelli. The team felt like it gained a step when he was replaced. A shame after two goal contributions in two for the Dutchman off te bench.
DOUGLAS LUIZ – 6. Put together another good match. He completed 94.7 percent of his passes, provided one key pass, and was denied by a great save by Arijaney Muric when the game was 1-1. He made a pair of tackles in defense as well. I’ve seen criticism of him on Adzic’s goal, but that’s deeply harsh. He was in a completely unwinnable position having to defend three potential options on his own.
FRANCISCO CONCIEÇÃO – 5.5. Had a pair of key passes but completed less than three-quarters of his efforts overall, and wasn’t as lively as he’s been in early games. Came off at the hour for a reason.
NICO GONZÁLEZ – 5.5. Much like last week he came out of the gates on fire, but faded as the game went on. Came inches away from a crackling start to the match when he glanced the ball off the bar in the second minute.
KERIM ALAJBEGOVIC – 6. Took a team-high six shots and had three of them on target. He’s got talent, and when we start seeing him put it all together it could be explosive.
RANDAL KOLO MUANI – 5.5. Had the assist on Edon Zhegrova’s second goal and was a big part of his first, going up for a cross and keeping Muric from winning it cleanly. Still, he should’ve pulled the trigger on some shots early, and that indecision ended up being the impetus for Sassuolo’s final counterattack.
SUBS
LLOYD KELLY – 5. Felt like his entrance disrupted the cohesion of the defense. Wasn’t particularly imposing.
EDON ZHEGROVA – 8. Scored a pair of cracking goals and led the team with three key passes in 30 minutes of work. His performance deserved a better result.
NICK WOLTEMADE – 5. Should’ve put Juve up 2-1 when he got a free header at a corner kick but put it wide.
PAPE MATAR SARR – 6. Completed all 19 of his passes, and seemed to raise the level of play a bit when he came on for Koopmeiners. If his legs are up to it, a start is in the offing.
JUSTIN OBOAVWODOU – NR. On for a visibly exhausted Alajbegovic late on, only touched the ball twice.
MANAGER ANALYSIS
With Locatelli, Weston McKennie, and Khéphren Thuram out and Sarr only fit for the bench, the decision to start Koopmeiners in midfield was made for Luciano Spalletti. Given his recent successes, one could be forgiven for hoping that momentum would keep going, but he was as flat as he’s been over two seasons.
The move in this game that will end up under the microscope is the introduction of Kelly. It clearly disrupted the cohesiveness of a defense that had kept Sassuolo under relative control throughout the first half. But we shouldn’t let hindsight blur things. Lucumí had been booked 20 minutes in and Kelly, thanks to João Pinhero’s ridiculous refereeing in the second leg of the Champions League playoff in February, isn’t going to be available for the game against NEC Nijmegen on Thursday. Getting Lucumí off the field, both to protect him from a second yellow and for the sake of rest, was a sound move in the moment. There’s no way Spalletti could’ve predicted the destabilizing effect it ended up having.
The rest of his changes were also sound, as was their timing. The way things were going in the midfield I would’ve liked to have seen Koopmeiners come off earlier, but Sarr likely only had 20 minutes in his legs after recovering enough from his pre-transfer leg injury to get into the squad for the first time, and it seems like Augusto Owusu, for all the impression he made on Spalletti in preseason, wasn’t going to jump the Senegal international in precedence.
It’s still a little bit too early, I would think, to look at Juve’s disjointed attack and lay blame to any one factor other than the need to gel after a whole lot of offseason turnover, particularly in the striker spot. That simply takes more than four games, however much you train together in the meantime. Getting guys like Kenan Yildiz back would also be quite the boon, but you’ll need depth players to know how to play with one another anyway, so getting the chance for them to mesh without him will ultimately be beneficial — if the meshing actually happens, that is. Getting that to work is Spalletti’s big job, and I still think it’s too early to be too judgmental about how successful he’s been at it.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Europa League anthem will play at the J Stadium on Thursday for the first time since 2023, much to our old friend Sergio’s joy. Juve will play a Nijmegen side that they’ve never faced competitively before. They’ll stay at home for Sunday’s match against Atalanta before the extended international break.
