Luciano Spalletti believes Juventus’ 2-0 win against Napoli can restore the team’s confidence after a difficult start to the Serie A season.
The victory at Allianz Stadium on Sunday was secured by two outstanding second-half goals from Kerim Alajbegovic and Jeremie Boga, lifting Juventus to 17 points.
Juventus struggled to produce clear chances before half-time, with Juan Cabal going closest when his effort struck the post after Teun Koopmeiners’ corner.
The breakthrough arrived in the 70th minute when Alajbegovic unleashed a superb long-range shot which went in off the right post. Napoli were reduced to 10 men five minutes later after Luca Marianucci was shown a second yellow card.
Boga completed the scoring three minutes from full-time, curling the ball beyond Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret.
All five of Juventus’ Serie A victories this season have come with a clean sheet. The Bianconeri last recorded at least five wins without conceding in their opening 10 matches of a campaign in 2023-24, when they achieved the feat six times under current Napoli manager Massimiliano Allegri.
Spalletti embraced members of his coaching staff at the final whistle, but said the credit for the result belonged to his players.
“They suffer along with me, they too work from morning until night,” Spalletti told DAZN Italia, as quoted by Football Italia.
“I am the first to arrive and the last to leave, but they are usually there with me for most of it. However, the credit must go to the team.
“They managed to dig into themselves and find that desire to take the first step, to go forward, think positive, and then they managed it in the second half with a few adjustments.
“I think they fully deserved the victory, restoring some of the self-esteem in the football they can play.”
The result was Juventus’ second successive Serie A win against Napoli without conceding. Their previous consecutive league victories to nil against the Partenopei came between April and October 2012, under Antonio Conte.
Before kick-off, Juventus supporters protested outside the stadium over the club’s inconsistent beginning to the season. Spalletti said the team must remain united while working to reconnect with its fans.
“We’ve just got to keep going. This is a moment we have to handle, then you can talk about what you want,” he added.
“Right now, we must be solid, along with a stadium whose real face is that of the second half, fighting alongside the team.
“You can say Spalletti’s no good, that player’s no good, get rid of everyone, but right now we need to be united, and this stadium must return to being our fortress.
“Even if we don’t make them that happy, we still need our fans by our side, so we thank all those today who applauded us and stayed with us.
“This is a moment where we need to hold hands and stand together, try to push forward and be positive, which isn’t easy when there are so few of us available.
“It was a victory deserved by the players, who deserved a big round of applause. Well done, lads.”
