12 September 2026
The Men’s First Team are in Serie A action on the road on Sunday, 13 September, travelling to Emilia-Romagna to take on Sassuolo on Matchday 4.
Ahead of the game, coach Luciano Spalletti gave his traditional MD-1 press conference.
TEAM NEWS
“We’ll start by saying that we’re sorry about what happened to [Manuel] Locatelli. His absence, though, spreads responsibility across everyone because he’s always attentive to everything. This week I’ve seen a team that’s very willing to fight against whatever it comes up against, a team that’s trained very well.
“Because of the individual pressure players carry now, there’s much more freedom on the pitch, so we’ve used different systems. Nothing changes without Locatelli in that sense. We can use any system because we have a squad that allows us to do that.
“[Weston] McKennie and [Andrea] Cambiaso are unlikely to be there tomorrow. Andrea will do a fitness test tomorrow morning. But [Pape Matar] Sarr will be available.
“We have to go out and win games. We have to impose ourselves by playing like Juventus and raising our level even further. We have to go beyond anything that happens to us.”
THE INDIVIDUALS
“With [Teun] Koopmeiners, there’s now a deeper understanding. The difference for players is obviously having more minutes to play. He’s liberated now, and much more relaxed. He’s a complete player and I expect a great performance from him.
“Douglas Luiz has shown in several places that he’s a good player. He probably needed to feel confidence in his qualities again in order to fully regain them. He can play long and short, he’s resilient, physical and always available for his teammates.
“[Nick] Woltemade has already settled into the group and made a good impression from his first training session. He’s shown us that he knows how to operate on the pitch, he’ll be involved tomorrow in one way or another.
“Sarr is a player who creates curiosity. He knows how to handle himself well in every situation. He covers a lot of ground and you find him everywhere because of his stamina. He knows how to tackle and is technically good too. We’re convinced we have a strong player available to us.”
ON SASSUOLO
“Sassuolo are a team that have stood out over the years for the quality of their football. They’re one of the best teams at winning the ball back and then breaking forward.
“I also want to congratulate the club because they’ve always created a balanced environment. Everyone speaks about Sassuolo in the same way.
“We’re going into a really tough game against a well-coached team. When I coached [Alberto] Aquilani, I already had the feeling he could become a coach. Even as a player, he had a lot of qualities and with his style of play he was always suggesting something to his teammates.
“I can see all of that in the teams he has coached, including Sassuolo. I want to congratulate him on the work he’s doing.”
