Juventus vs NEC Nijmegen: Spalletti's Mentality Focus Ahead of Europa League Opener

Luciano Spalletti is not interested in favourites’ tags or early Europa League predictions. Not after what he saw at the weekend.

Three days on from Juventus’ chaotic 3-2 defeat to Sassuolo in Serie A, the coach cut a sharp, demanding figure in his pre‑match press conference ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League opener against NEC Nijmegen in Turin.

For Spalletti, everything starts in the head.

The mentality will be fundamental

Juventus go into the game as clear favourites at home against the Eredivisie side and have been widely tipped to put together a serious run in this season’s competition. Spalletti refused to lean on that narrative.

“We could have been more attentive, fluid and now we have to be aware of the fact that we need to improve,” he said, revisiting the collapse against Sassuolo. “We’ve outlined what we want to do and the things that we need to correct.”

He then went straight into the details he felt his team had neglected.

“We have to be tighter to cut off some of the opponents’ passing lines and understand when to go and press, when to drop into the low block, these are the sorts of things we can correct. Today, the difference will be in how we interpret the situation. The mentality will be fundamental tomorrow.”

The message was clear: talent alone will not be enough under the lights on Thursday at 20.00 BST.

Warning shot over NEC’s ‘personalised’ plan

Spalletti also moved quickly to shut down any sense of complacency about NEC. He expects a side that comes to Turin with a clear identity and the weapons to hurt Juventus if the home team drift mentally.

“We should expect a ‘personalised’ game plan with lots of quality ideas. We have to be ready, otherwise we could be surprised,” he warned.

The Italian pointed directly to the visitors’ technical threat and structure in the final third, name-checking one of their key figures.

“They also have strong players like [Dusan] Tadic and they play with inverted wingers because they want to converge towards the goal. We have to be at a high level mentally and if we’re not ready, it could become an uncomfortable evening.”

Juventus may be expected to take control of Group-stage proceedings at home. Spalletti, stung by Sassuolo and fixated on focus, knows that if his players switch off again, the Europa League campaign could start with exactly the kind of “uncomfortable” night he is desperate to avoid.