Spalletti: ‘Juventus must not be arrogant amid Sassuolo crisis, new Boga role’
Luciano Spalletti warns against Juventus getting ‘arrogant’ due to the Sassuolo whooping cough crisis, while he welcomes back Dusan Vlahovic and trusts Jeremie Boga in a new role.
It kicks off at the Allianz Juventus Stadium at 19.45 GMT (20.45 CET).
Sassuolo are in a very strange situation, as there is one confirmed case of whooping cough in the squad, and another four players who have been isolated after showing symptoms.
Although the club has not named any of them due to privacy concerns, notably Nemanja Matic, Kristian Thorstvedt, Woyo Coulibaly and Stefano Turati are not here today.
The Neroverdi were already without injured Fali Candé, Alieu Fadera, Daniel Boloca and Edoardo Pieragnolo, but Spalletti refuses to see this as an advantage.
Spalletti does not expect struggling Sassuolo
“Any team usually has 15-16 first choice players, naturally there are some who play more, but that doesn’t mean the others aren’t valid,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.
“I remember during the Covid era when there were only 13 players who came here with Napoli, we got a draw with a wonderful Mertens goal. So this sort of thing can create a bit of arrogance if you are not intelligent enough to handle the news, or on the other side gives you extra motivation to give something more and help your teammates out.”
The Bianconeri got themselves back in the hunt for a Champions League spot thanks to the fightback for a 3-3 draw at Roma, then two consecutive Serie A victories over Pisa and Udinese.
Among the keys to the turnaround was the move to a 4-3-3 formation, with Jeremie Boga as the centre-forward this time from the start rather than at half-time, sending Jonathan David to the bench.
“I asked all those who worked with Boga, they said he has to play on the left, but when I put him in the centre, he proved that he knows how to hurt the opposition centre-backs,” explained Spalletti.
“If he has 10 metres behind him, he can use that with a lethal change of pace, it’s impossible to keep up with him. So we’ll try to make the most of that, as well as his technique, as he does well with the ball at his feet.”
Dusan Vlahovic is back on the bench for the first time since November 29, when he suffered a serious thigh injury, and his future at the club remains to be seen with a contract that expires on June 30.
“Arek Milik is on the bench too, so we’ve got four centre-forwards on the bench. Vlahovic is doing well, naturally he has different characteristics, he had a lot of difficulty sticking to the rules after a very serious injury, but seeing as we are at the end of that process now, we will try not to do any more damage.”