“Ugly defeat” – Spalletti admits Juventus are back to square one | OneFootball

Juventus head coach Luciano Spalletti acknowledges that the progress made by his players has been undone after a series of poor performances.

The Serie A giants appointed the 66-year-old in late October after sacking Igor Tudor due to a woeful start to the season.

The Bianconeri gradually displayed improved results and performances under the new manager. Following a positive run that saw Juventus make short work of the likes of Cremonese, Napoli and Parma, the fanbase was beginning to see the light at the end of the dark tunnel.

However, their dreams of a swift revival have been shattered by a horrendous February run.

How Juve’s campaign unravelled in disastrous February

In their last five outings, Juventus suffered an embarassing 0-3 defeat to Atalanta that eliminated them from the Coppa Italia, before salvaging a point at home against Lazio thanks to a last-gasp equaliser, and were then beaten in the Derby d’Italia by Inter, albeit amidst controversial circumstances.

In midweek, Juventus were soundly defeated by Galatasaray, who gave themselves a massive three-goal advantage heading to the second leg of the Champions League play-offs.

Luciano Spalletti (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

While Spalletti was expecting a reaction from his players on Saturday, the team was dealt a new blow in the Top Four race after falling short to Como.

“We struggled to take control again; we misplaced too many passes for a team with our quality, and they moved us around the pitch, forcing us to chase,” said the 66-year-old in his post-match interview with Sky Sport Italia via IlBianconero.

“It was a succession of errors, and then the 2–0 split us in two. It was an ugly defeat.”

Luciano Spalletti disappointed with regressing Juventus

The former Roma and Napoli boss also admitted that the team is now back to square one after seeing all the progress unravelled, while urging the players to find back their confidence back.

“It’s what we’ve been saying: when results don’t come, things pile onto the players and create pressure that’s hard to shake off with self-belief and conviction.

“But if you then go out there and misplace passes, everything becomes even more difficult. For me, nothing changes. I came here five or six games ago, saying I believed they had quality but didn’t recognise it themselves — it’s the same now, because we’ve fallen back into that situation.

“It’s exactly like at the start. We don’t have the conviction that we have potential, and I still think it’s there. It all depends on the mind. You can’t play the kind of football we did three or four matches ago if you don’t have it within you.”

Finally, Spalletti asked the Juventus fans to remain behind the team in his delicate moment of the campaign.

“I hope the fans keep supporting us. We have to accept and endure some whistles, but we have the chance to get ourselves back on track.”