Luciano Spalletti feels Juventus players 'realised it depends on them' after the recent crisis, but his options are limited against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League. 'Pape Matar Sarr and Lloyd Kelly will start.'
It kicks off at the AZ Stadion in Alkmaar on Thursday at 20.00 GMT (21.00 CET).
The Bianconeri won their first two Europa League matches, but were then held to a 2-2 home stalemate by Stade Rennais.
Their mood was certainly lifted by the 2-0 Serie A victory over Napoli on Sunday, even if there have been false dawns before followed by disappointing performances, so the search for consistency is a real problem.
TURIN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 17: Luciano Spalletti, Manager of Juventus, reacts during the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Juventus and N.E.C. Nijmegen at Juventus Stadium on September 17, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
"We feel good arriving for this match," assured Spalletti on Sky Sport Italia.
"The team gave an important response in the last game, and perhaps the lads realised it really does just depend on them, so it probably gave them some more self-belief.
"Some of the choices are pretty easy for you to predict, because we've got to rest someone. I can confirm Sarr and Kelly will start, plus we absolutely need to rotate in attack."
Weston McKennie was left out due to a muscular issue , joining Kenan Yildiz, Manuel Locatelli, Francisco Conceiçao, Nico Gonzalez, Zeki Celik, Kamil Grabara and Khephren Thuram on the absentee list.
Meanwhile, Edon Zhegrova is not part of the UEFA squad, but Jeff Ekhator is called up for the first time in the Europa League.
ITALY – OCTOBER 25: Head coach of Juventus FC Luciano Spalletti looks on ahead the Serie A match between US Lecce and Juventus at Stadio Via del Mare on October 25, 2026 in Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images)
"The club worked well to get Ekhator at our disposal, but we need to limit the minutes everyone plays, considering we have to be able to make changes in another game coming up in just three days," added Spalletti.
When it comes to the strikers, does that mean Randal Kolo Muani will initially be rested tomorrow in the Netherlands?
"We have the opportunity to take some of the fatigue off them, because you can recover fairly easily from playing 60 minutes, but an additional 20 or 30 starts to take its toll.
"We will try to have some alternatives to Kolo, but we'll see tomorrow. He will probably start, because we took some minutes off him in the last game and so he'll be fresher."
VIGO, SPAIN – OCTOBER 15: Luciano Spalletti, Head Coach of Juventus, gestures during the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 League Phase MD2 match between Real Club Celta and Juventus at Estadio Balaidos on October 15, 2026 in Vigo, Spain. (Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/Getty Images)
The 2-0 victory over Napoli was a significant boost, although it was only decided by two moments of magic from Kerim Alajbegovic and Jeremie Boga.
"Alajbegovic took on the responsibility, a young player like him usually slides back in difficult moments, but instead he gave an important contribution to turn those difficulties around," confessed Spalletti.
"He was signed originally as a player with promising prospects, but seeing his form and response, we are happy to give him a bit more responsibility. It is nice to see this response, but it is difficult to play regularly at this level, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.
"I can say he will feature for some of tomorrow's game, either sooner or later."
