Luciano Spalletti believes Juventus earned a “double victory” against Roma, beating them and learning from their aggressive approach, despite criticizing Eden Žeglova’s “fluid” defence.
The Bianconeri know this is a huge test of their ambitions as a defeat would see them seven points adrift of the top four.
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Instead, goals from Francisco Conceição and Luis Openda secured a 2-1 victory and reduced the gap on Roma to one point.
However, it was Tommaso Baldanzi’s late goal at the back post that irked Spalletti the most, with Žegrova’s mistake the catalyst.
Spalletti has both praise and criticism for Juventus
BOLOGNA, ITALY – DECEMBER 14: Juventus head coach Luciano Spalletti watches the Serie A match between Bologna FC 1909 and Juventus FC at the Renato Dalara Stadium on December 14, 2025 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabatini/Getty Images)
“A football match is like an empty box, you can’t just fill it with your abilities, you also have to put in some uncomfortable things that you don’t like to do,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
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“In the second half, for example, Yildiz dropped deep and covered the flank. His opponents knew how good he was, but I don’t think he realized how good he was yet or how other players already viewed him.
“He did the job he needed to do. When you face a balanced, aggressive team like Roma, who come at you with a third defender, a full-back and another defender, if you don’t have Yildiz and Conceição to help defend, then they will break through.
“Well, Zheglova is a player who can’t do his job defensively at the moment. If you can get him forward towards the opponent, he can be deadly. So I have to keep the ball in a position where he just needs to do that. If I can’t, then we’re vulnerable.
“I don’t believe that Zheglova can defend solidly, that’s not his characteristic. When he has to defend, he becomes fluid,” Spalletti added.
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“He can run back to where he was, but sometimes you have to hold onto your opponent to get physical. That’s not his style.”
Edon Zhegrova arrives at Juventus for a medical.
Spalletti also took the time to praise Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma, who did see plenty of the ball in the first half despite not creating as many chances.
“Roma are a team that’s constantly churning and we’re not like that, we drop out of the game at times, we concede the ball easily and don’t see their full-backs. They’ll switch from one side to the other, so if we don’t manage to focus them in one direction we spend a lot of energy chasing them.”
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“Even if they weren’t that dangerous, their pace, their consistency, their stability, all of that caused us problems in the first half. We didn’t take full advantage of the counter-attacks either. Their constant pressure wears you down and you don’t have enough energy to counter-attack.
“Gasperini’s team created these mini-prisons where you feel like you have to escape and there’s always someone behind you.”
TURIN, ITALY – DECEMBER 2: Juventus head coach Luciano Spalletti watches before the Serie C match between Ternana Calcio and Juventus Next Gen at the Allianz Stadium on December 2, 2025 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Penicino/Getty Images)
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It was Juventus’ second big win in a row, having overtaken Bologna 1-0 at the Stadio Dallara last week.
Francisco Conceicao and Grayson Bremer, a linebacker making his first start since tearing his meniscus on Sept. 27, both left the game with minor muscle issues.
Check out Italian footballers’ ratings of Juventus 2-1 Roma
Juventus appear to be finding their feet under Luciano Spalletti, winning six of their last seven official games and losing only to Napoli.
Considering there are no more head-to-head matches on the schedule, is this an opportunity for Juve to move closer to the top of the table?
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“When you ask me a question like that, I want to bite you,” Spalletti told the interviewer with a laugh.
“What does it mean, no big games? It’s all difficult right now. Winning, and learning from those teams you manage to beat, represents a double victory because they also give you confidence and the knowledge that you can fight with anyone.
“We persisted until the last moment, and even if we conceded a goal at the last moment, the team still wanted more. Now we will continue to work hard and hope to recover more lost ground.”