In better days, all hell breaking loose has resulted in Juventus picking up a win when you didn’t necessarily expect them to based on how those previous portions of the game went. But for Juventus in 2026, all hell breaking loose involves game-changing mistakes and defensive breakdowns that only sees a potential smash-and-grab of three points go up in smoke about as fast as they fought back to tie it.
Or maybe you can say it a little like this …
Translation: “If you have no defense, others score. And then they win.”
Juventus didn’t have a defense against Sassuolo on Sunday night at the Mapei Stadium. And that was especially the case in the second half. They came back to tie the game twice within the final 10 minutes, but both times it was Sassuolo who was able to get the lead right back and extend the misery of the day for Juventus’ defense. Each goal that Sassuolo scored were just another masterstroke of defensive blunders stacked on top of one another, with Juve essentially handing the home side three golden chances — which they rightfully took each time.
The final nail in the coffin, with Douglas Luiz looking around like he was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air wondering where all his teammates were in defense, came from a player who Juve loaned to Sassuolo just two months ago, Vasilije Adžić, who curled one past a stranded Guglielmo Vicario in the 94th minute to claim the 3-2 win.
Perfect, ain’t it?
After having so much defensive solidarity during the opening three games of the Serie A season, it all came apart on Matchday 4. Juventus had allowed the joint-fewest amount of goals through those first three rounds, and it’s not like Vicario had been peppered week after week to begin his career in bianconero on top of it.
But once the defense fell apart on Sunday, it really fell apart.
And that was well before Adžić’s stoppage-time winner, too. Pierre Kalulu lost his man on the goal to put Sassuolo ahead 1-0. Gleison Bremer completely came up empty and gift-wrapped Sassuolo a 2-1 lead. Then there is whatever the heck much of the team on the field was doing on Adžić‘s goal that won it. Douglas Luiz, for as much as he tried to slow everything down, was left on an island, with a no-win situation looking him right back in the face.
It was bad. It was really, really bad.
So as much as the player who had been previously known for what he hasn’t done in a Juventus jersey was the one who scored both of the goals to tie it not once but twice, you had a defense absolutely imploding and a Sassuolo team nearly doubling their goal tally on the season thanks to their three-goal night on Sunday.
Was missing Manuel Locatelli obvious in this game? Of course, because for his shortcomings in other areas it’s not the defensive side of the game where he lacks ability. Was missing other players due to injury also noticeable in this game? Of course, you don’t have nearly a full starting lineup worth of players injured and not feel an impact of some variety. Was it Jhon Lucumí having to be taken off at halftime because of an early yellow? Of course, hard to disagree there.
But it’s not like Sassuolo played some sort of newfound setup that completely changed how this game was carrying out. Alberto Aquilani set things up to hit on the counter — and that’s exactly what Sassuolo did. They took advantage of all the mess Juventus were doing in front of them, hit on the counter and the result ended up being three points. That is pretty much the recipe to beat Juventus these days. And, unfortunately, it’s not like Luciano Spalletti is countering it with his own plan that is showing us that this team is going to be achieving anything more than it did last season’s sixth-place finish to begin the new campaign.
Not when you defend like that. Not when you need a Hail Mary late in the game in back-to-back weeks just to try and get a point. Not when you’re looking at your team sheet and many of your best players aren’t out there.
Juventus wholeheartedly deserved their first loss of the season on Sunday night. They were the better team last weekend against Milan. That wasn’t the case seven days later, folks. Juventus played with fire, they made multiple game-altering mistakes and Sassuolo rightfully made them pay for it. Sometimes this game is just that damn simple.
It was about as ugly as it could get for Juventus at the back — and the stoppage time winner was the cherry on top of it all.
Just remember that the Ex Effect never quits, the Ex Effect never dies and Juventus were reminded of that yet again at a stadium in which now they can just add another instance of terrible defending to the list of what they’ve done at the Mapei over the last half-decade.
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS
- Ah, right. That Juventus defense. So glad you’re back!
- Not really. Not one bit actually. That’s the kind of defensive effort that just leaves me shaking my head as I watch goal after goal happen.
- Lost in all of this is that Sassuolo’s giant goalkeeper, Arijanet Muric, just made save after save after save. Not all of them were difficult, but it was just another case of an opposing keeper being a big reason why Juventus didn’t score more.
- Plus, you know, there were times during this game that the attack just looked so maddening and out of sync. There is little chemistry between that top four that Luciano Spalletti started, sure, but the amount of misplaced passes that we saw through the course of that game just left so many frustrated.
- Of course, it wasn’t just the attacking quartet that turned the ball over time and time again. The misplaced passes were all over the place. Bremer and Lucumí struggled to build of the back. Teun Koopmeiners and Douglas Luiz had their fare share of misplaced passes, too. It was just … so predictable so much of the time.
- And then the high defensive line coming back to bite them in the ass multiple times? That’s predictable, too.
- History? Do we celebrate history?
- Koopmeiners’ average position through the first 25 minutes was basically between Bremer and Jhon Lucumí. How can we blame this on Manuel Locatelli?
- Juventus had 60% possession in the first half.
- Juventus were outshot by Sassuolo 5-3 in the first half.
- One of these things doesn’t add up to the other. Just shoot the ball, man.
- Sassuolo manager Alberto Aquilani? More like former Juventus midfielder Alberto Aquilani!
- Here’s 38-year-old Nemanja Matić just being an absolute tank on the field against Juventus. Good times.
- I’m happy for Edon. His first season with Juventus was a total lost campaign. But this appearance was hopefully the shot in the arm he needs to become a legit contributor to this team. Lord knows they need it right now with their No. 9 struggling to score.
- But hey, it was that same No. 9 that both frustrated us multiple times against Sassuolo but also played a big role in both of Zhegrova’s goals actually happening.
- Better than nothing? At least it’s something from Randal Kolo Muani — and certainly more we could say about what he had (or hadn’t) done through the first hour or so.
- At least Kerim Alajbegović showed us some of the good things he can do with the ball at his feet. He definitely came to life in the second half and did some really good things. Hopefully the reason why he asked for a sub late was mostly because he was totally gassed after playing close to a full 90. I really hope so because another injury on the left wing just ain’t what this team needs right now.
- I still don’t know what Bremer was thinking on that missed tackle attempt that led to Sassuolo’s second goal. He just totally mistimed it and the result was about as bad as it gets.
- I also don’t know what Kalulu (and Bremer) was doing on Sassuolo’s first goal. Just follow the runner, right? That seems pretty simple considering he was the only Sassuolo player making that kind of run in the Juventus box.
- Good for Adžić, man. He’s going out and doing exactly what you hope a young player would do during his first real shot at playing time in Italy. That option to buy that Sassuolo has will look like a pretty damn easy decision if he keeps playing this way.
- Another good weekend for sporting properties that John Elkann has a major stake in!
- And all of this in your first official game in your beautiful pink away kit? SHAME ON YOU.
- And that beautiful yellow goalkeeper that Vicario had on? SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
- Pass the bourbon. It’s one of those days. Thank you very much, Juventus, because these are becoming all too common of a thought after watching you play the last couple of years.
