Luciano Spalletti Points Out What Went Wrong In Juventus’ Record Setting Loss
It might have ended in a disappointing loss for Italian giants, Juventus in their 21st game of 2025-26 Serie A season against Cagliari but the players can’t be scolded for their performance in the 1-0 loss away from home as they inadvertently created a record for the Serie A history books.
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They become the first ever team to lose a Serie A game when having at least 78 per cent possession and nobody else had managed such an achievement since Opta began gathering data on Serie A matches in the 2004-05 season as they failed to convert their chances on the night.
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The Bianconeri dominated the match, having 20 shots on goal to just three, 18 corners to one, and with an xG of 1.17 compared to just 0.2 for the Sardinians and while reacting to the result, Luciano Spalletti revealed that Jonathan David and Lois Openda ‘should have relied more on speed’.
Speaking in the post match interview, the former Inter Milan and Napoli manager examined the defeat against Cagliari, his second in charge of the club since he replaced Igor Tudor as coach in October last year after a string of bad results this season.
David started the match, while Openda was introduced as a substitute in the second half, but Spalletti expected a better contribution from both. “They weren’t able to find the finishing touch. They should have relied more on speed, which would have allowed them to create more space to get shots off and be more dangerous.”
“Crosses can be an important weapon only if they’re delivered well. In some situations, we were also lucky, but we played our game. In matches like this, there’s always the risk of conceding counter-attacks, which in fact we rarely allowed.” Spalletti continued in his assessment.
“The difference was made by the ability to take advantage of chances, as Cagliari did. Evidently, today, it was meant to go that way.” Juventus dominated possession and arguably had the best chances to score at the Unipol Domus , but the home side managed a win.
“I congratulate Cagliari, their fans and their president. Now we focus on the next match,” he further added. “Surely, we must work on excessive time-wasting, which breaks up the flow of the game too much.” Their next game is at home against José Mourinho’s Benfica in the Champions League next Wednesday.
Their following league game is also at home, against Antonio Conte’s Napoli on Sunday, January 25. Spalletti has won ten of his 16 matches in charge of Juventus, drawing four times and losing twice and there are reports that the club is planning to offer him a new contract soon.
In a related development, reports in Italy claim that Juve are readying a new offer for Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, which includes an initial loan deal with a conditional option to buy as they’ve now made him a priority target in this winter transfer window.
Mateta, who has eight goals from 22 outings in the Premier League so far this season is currently valued in the region of €30-€35m by his club while reports in the UK suggest that the figure is in excess of €50m, which would be out of Juve’s budget for a new striker this January.
There have been reports that Crystal Palace enquired about a potential exchange deal involving Jonathan David moving in the opposite direction, but Juventus are unwilling to part ways with the Canadian less than a year he first came in as they’re also preparing for the potential exit of Dusan Vlahovic in the summer.
The latest reports from Gianluca Di Marzio claim that Juventus are now preparing a new offer, made up of an initial loan deal for around €2m and an obligation to buy for a fee of around €28m in the event that the Bianconeri qualify for the Europa League at the end of the season.
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The report went further to claim that Juventus already have an agreement in place on personal terms with the France international but the EPL club will try to put up some resistance. On the other hand, after selling Marc Guehi, the feeling is that a transfer will happen if the player pushes for the move.
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