Luciano Spalletti said Juventus will go into Sassuolo Vs Juventus with Douglas Luiz and Teun Koopmeiners together in midfield, a choice shaped by a long injury list but not by any plan to lower expectations. Yildiz, Thuram, Locatelli, McKennie, Boga, Ekhator and Cabal were all out, while Cambiaso was due a late fitness test in extremis.
That made the eve of the match in Reggio Emilia the only place to look for clarity on Juventus’ shape, and Spalletti gave it. He described Douglas Luiz as a certainty of football who had recovered confidence in his qualities, saying the midfielder now moves the ball more and uses it better. On Koopmeiners, he said the Dutchman had become freer with more minutes and that the best setup was to split his work between defensive midfielder and central midfielder.
Spalletti’s point was not only about selection. He said speaking about injuries was too close to surrendering to excuses, and he pushed that idea even while Juventus were missing eight players when the late test for Cambiaso was counted. He also said it still hurt not to be in the Champions League, but argued that the absence should become a stimulus rather than a complaint.
That pressure is part of why Locatelli’s absence carried extra weight. Spalletti said he was sorry about it and described him as a player who never takes off his shirt even after showering, a line that captured the work Juventus lose when he is unavailable. The missing names also leave more responsibility spread across the group, which is exactly the burden Spalletti said the team must accept instead of turning injury talk into a shield.
There was still a football match to consider, and Spalletti did not pretend Sassuolo would make that easy. He called them one of the best sides at recovering the ball and breaking forward, and pointed to Berardi, Laurienté, Matic and Esposito as strong threats. He also praised Carlo Carnevali for guiding Sassuolo exceptionally for 12 years, a reminder that Juventus were not just managing absences but preparing for an opponent he clearly respected.
Spalletti also singled out Pape Sarr as a player who creates curiosity because he handles any situation well, though the immediate question remained simpler: whether Cambiaso would pass the late test and make the squad. If he did not, Juventus would face Sassuolo with one more hole in a side already forced to lean on Douglas Luiz and Koopmeiners to set the tone.
