‘Inferior’ Juventus beginning to worry Spalletti after defeat to Lazio

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Luciano Spalletti said he saw an “inferior” Juventus team during Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Lazio, adding that he was surprised with the performance his side produced.

Spalletti was not in the dugout at the Allianz Stadium because of a touchline ban, with Marco Domenichini overseeing the match, but he was unable to inspire Juventus to victory.

Oliver Provstgaard headed Lazio in front with 37 minutes on the clock before Gustav Isaksen doubled the visitors’ advantage with a fine finish in the 66th minute. 

The win was sealed by an excellent run and finish from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, with the result seeing Gennaro Gattuso’s side go back level on points with league leaders Inter. 

Juventus, however, find themselves eight points off the pace after just seven matches, while also losing by at least three goals against Lazio in Serie A for the first time since a 4-1 defeat at the Olimpico on March 18, 2001.

The Bianconeri have also lost two of their last five home league games (W2 D1), as many defeats as they recorded in their previous 44 such matches (W24 D18).

Spalletti’s side have accumulated just 11 points from their first seven Serie A games, failing to surpass that mark after the first seven games for the third time in the last 11 seasons, after 2021-22 (11 points) and 2022-23 (10). 

“It was certainly an inferior Juventus, a team that did not control the game, nor have ideas on where to take the game,” Spalletti confessed to DAZN Italia.

“It’s hard to explain it even to ourselves, because we returned at 4am on Friday from Vigo, then let the players recover with the physical performance staff.

“We tried to change a few things. There were six new players, but we were slow both in legs and mind.

“In football, you can see the opponents, you can see the ball, and if you are too slow to react, show no heart or rhythm, tactics and systems become irrelevant.”

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 18, 2026

Following the full-time whistle, the Juventus players were jeered off by their supporters, with Lazio beating the Bianconeri by at least three goals away from home in Serie A for only the third time in their history, after a 3-0 win in May 1995 and a 3-0 win in March 1964.

Juventus created very little in the final third, accumulating an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.74 from their nine shots, and only two of those tested Christos Mandas. 

“Without tempo, without ideas, without running, without the desire to work hard, and when there is fragility in duels, letting heads drop when things aren’t working, those are all things I did not like,” Spalletti added. 

“The important thing is to show a reaction, not abandon yourself to events. Our careers aren’t just down to luck, we’ve got to fight for those opportunities. 

“We are forced to learn that lesson. There are youngsters today who fight and others who let themselves fall down at the first stumble, but every person has a different character.”

Juventus’ 11 points are one fewer than they had at this stage of last season under Igor Tudor, while Thiago Motta had amassed 13 after seven games in his brief stint in charge. 

“Clearly, we need to analyse and there are only two possibilities. We can either discuss the way we talk to the team, or the working method,” Spalletti conceded.

“Something has to be modified, evidently. I was surprised by this performance too, so I need to think hard about it, because I haven’t changed my way of talking to the players, I want to communicate with them, to have a good rapport with them. That has always been my way.

“Maybe I need to analyse my own rapport with the team, because it is honest and fair. They will recognise themselves that what we did today is not good enough.”

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