Juventus: Luciano Spalletti at a Crossroads—An Unprecedented Solution Is in the Works

Still winless this September and coming off an away loss to Sassuolo—a game in which Vasilije Adzic, a player owned by the Bianconeri, played a decisive role—Juventus is preparing for its Europa League debut at home against NEC, with no small amount of pressure on its shoulders. The Nijmegen-based club is going through a far from happy spell (just one win in its last six official matches) but will undoubtedly play with the psychological advantage of being the underdog.

To avoid raising further questions within the Juventus camp, Luciano Spalletti is ready to implement an unprecedented solution for this season. In fact, both Pape Sarr and Nick Woltemade are expected to start: the former, who arrived from Tottenham late in the summer transfer window, has played just 19 minutes so far against Sassuolo, while the latter has seen limited action in matches against Milan and Sassuolo, without making an impact.

Spalletti is therefore expected to field a 3-4-2-1 formation with Guglielmo Vicario in goal, a defensive trio consisting of Federico Gatti, Bremer, and Jhon Lucumí, Sarr, and Douglas Luiz in the center of midfield, with Pierre Kaluku and Zeki Celik on the wings, and Weston McKennie and Randal Kolo Muani supporting the main striker, Woltemade.

The injured players—Boga, Cabal, Ekhator, Locatelli, Thuram, and Yildiz—will be out, as will the suspended Kelly. Milik, Rugani, and Zhegrova are not on the UEFA roster. For Juventus, this is their first Europa League match since the 2022–2023 season: that year, the Bianconeri—having been “relegated” from the Champions League—defeated Nantes, Freiburg, and Sporting in the knockout stage, before falling to Sevilla in the semifinals, losing the second leg 2-1 in extra time following a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Stadium.