Spalletti: Juventus found solidity but 'went backwards' in second half vs Lecce
Juventus bounce back with 2-0 win at Lecce
Juventus returned to winning ways in Serie A with a 2-0 victory away to Lecce on Sunday evening, but head coach Luciano Spalletti warned that his side “went backwards” after the interval despite a much-improved first-half display.
The Bianconeri claimed all three points at the Via del Mare thanks to first-half goals from Weston McKennie and Douglas Luiz, the latter scoring his first competitive goal for the club. The result was a welcome response to a 3-0 defeat against Lazio the previous weekend.
‘We found this system, which brings solidity’
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia after full-time, Spalletti was pleased with the opening 45 minutes but pinpointed a loss of courage after the break.
“The players played a very good game in terms of pace and playing openly. We dropped off a bit in terms of our management in the second half and then everything became more difficult because we had less courage. We needed to do the same things as we did in the first half.”
The Juventus boss revealed that the tactical tweak — a three-man midfield behind Randal Kolo Muani and Nick Woltemade — was a deliberate move to add stability following the Lazio thrashing. Juventus have lined up with that front pairing and a three-man midfield behind them for the last two matches.
“We spoke about what we needed most. We changed something on a tactical level by playing with three midfielders, because in these sorts of moments you need more solidity and clarity and we did the most logical thing. But then you have to put the players into positions where they do well, and it means excluding wide players who have previously done well for us. We found this system, which brings solidity, and we’re happy with that because we immediately saw a better team performance. The second half, however, we seemed to go backwards.”
Spalletti reserved particular praise for Douglas Luiz, who anchored the new-look midfield.
“He had a great game today, he fought and ran, he battled on all sides and he helped clean up certain situations when we needed him to.”
Lecce’s switch exposed Juve’s second-half struggles
Spalletti also credited Lecce’s own system change for making life difficult after the break.
“They came out in a 4-3-3 and in the second half they played three at the back and went man for man. We stayed put, we didn’t press with any force and we no longer built from the back. The goalkeeper had a lot more passes to make in the second half. We had a two-goal lead, but that wasn’t enough to lose our measure. We didn’t concede, but we weren’t very proactive in trying to close the game.”
The win lifts Juventus after a difficult run in which, as reported on 17 October 2026, injuries to the likes of Kenan Yildiz, captain Manuel Locatelli, Khephren Thuram, Jeff Ekhator and winger Jeremie Boga had left Spalletti with a depleted squad and prompted his search for greater solidity through a reshaped system.