Spalletti’s team fails to secure a win and remains on the edge of the playoff zone with 3 points from 4 matches.

Luciano Spalletti’s second Juventus side had a scare and a good time, but ultimately settled for a draw, as they were held to a 1-1 home draw against Sporting on Matchday 4 of the Champions League, once again postponing their first victory in the mega-group. Maxi Araujo gave the Bianconeri a scare in the 12th minute and Dusan Vlahovic put them back on track in the 34th, but the Old Lady failed to complete the comeback and settled for her third draw in four matches: she thus remains temporarily on the edge of the playoff zone as the group stage reaches the halfway point.
DUSAN’S MANUAL – Spalletti’s attacking midfield is a first for the coach in the 3-4-2-1 formation with which the Old Lady took the field for the gala evening, because in Cremona, number 10 Kenan Yildiz had been rested while Francisco Conceiçao came off the bench. However, the formation is merely a number, one that takes a backseat if differences in interpretation are such as to upend the team’s shape—and thus its substance. The wide midfielders, for example, often drop back to the defensive line when out of possession, while in bursts, the collective pressing forces the Portuguese side’s elegant passing game to increase its tempo, thus venturing into territory unfavorable to the green-and-whites: Sporting’s lost balls quickly pile up from midway through the first half onward, and consequently spaces open up when the Bianconeri manage to exploit them with quick reactions and speed. It is therefore no coincidence that, once again, Vlahovic proves to have less trouble connecting with the team, “handling” long passes while shielding the ball, and even being consistently fed the ball. When, in the 34th minute, he capitalized on Khephren Thuram’s run to score the equalizer and give the fans and teammates a boost, goalkeeper Rui Silva had already made three saves against the Serbian in half an hour—two of which were far from easy: one on a close-range header and the other on a low left-footed shot into the corner.
THE KOOP CARD – In defense, Spalletti stuck with Teun Koopmeiners after his successful trial run on Saturday against Cremonese, but, despite his adjustment period, the visitors’ agonizing opening goal—in the 12th minute by Araujo—came from the right side of the field on Sporting’s first real chance: a quality low pass and a razor-sharp finish by the Uruguayan, first hitting the far post and then finding the net. Returning to the Dutchman, on his second attempt, Koopmeiners demonstrated composure and leadership to guide the defense, while also adding some interesting vertical passes into midfield and the attacking third, as seen on the 1-1 equalizer. Perhaps this is exactly what Spalletti expects from him. When Juventus weathered the initial setback of falling behind—with Michele Di Gregorio pushing Francisco Trincao’s powerful shot onto the crossbar—the team’s character and courage emerged as they went in search of a comeback: repeated chances, the 1-1 goal, and Gonçalo Inacio’s save on Conceiçao at the end of the first half.
IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS – With the first substitutions, 20 minutes from the end, Spalletti brought Filip Kostic back out wide (moving the versatile Weston McKennie into the center) and brought on Edon Zhegrova in place of Conceiçao, who was his usual acrobatic self but certainly no “carpe diem” prophet, having wasted too much time on the ball—a personal challenge he must overcome to make the leap in quality. And when Vlahovic came off, Yildiz moved into the center as a false nine for a couple of minutes, as a pensive Juventus looked for solutions within itself. Upon his exit, Jonathan David returns as the center forward, struggling with his first two touches but then nearly becoming the hero of the evening in the 92nd minute when he forces Rui Silva into yet another save with a fine header off yet another cross from Pierre Kalulu. Juventus at the Allianz Stadium is, after all, by far the best of the Bianconeri’s fall campaign, but only points count when it comes to making the playoffs: three in four matches under Igor Tudor and Spalletti. If there is a limited number of European wild cards, the Old Lady has already used them all up.

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