Luciano Spalletti, coach of Napoli, held a press conference on the eve of the match against Juventus, emphasizing Juventus' role as favorites and criticizing the attitude of the Juventus coach, Massimiliano Allegri, who had defined Juventus as a supporting player.
here are the salient passages of the press conference.
Spalletti: "Juventus are favourites"
Spalletti stated that, according to him, the Juventus is the favourite of the match:
“I understand that it would be convenient for Allegri to play as supporting actor, but for a Juve team that is always full of champions it is impossible to hide from the role of favourite. Certain investments pay off only by playing for the Scudetto and the Champions League. It's useless to put on a hat or a fake beard, there's no fourth place that satisfies Juventus”.
Spalletti also commented on the words of Allegri, who had described him as "funny and amusing, but also very good", underlining that he he bows in front of his colleague's palmares Tuscan:
“He is the best because his palmares says it, I bow down in front of his palmares”.
Napoli – Juventus: no team will be afraid
The Napoli coach then added that both teams will take the field without fear, as footballers have enough personality and technique to play for victory.
“When you wear such important shirts, I see it hard to play with fear. No one will be afraid, there are strong players in terms of personality and technique, both teams will play to win and it will be a great show”.
He also talked about the different game philosophies of the two teams, emphasizing that Napoli is inspired by the beauty of football, while Juventus follows the motto "winning is the only thing that matters".
“Allegri marries the Juventus motto, that winning is the only thing that matters. Everything is more heart and soul here, Maradona was there, they saw him play and when he won he showed how much beauty there is in football. We can't help but bring some of that beauty with us and we remember that football hoping to re-propose it, then it's clear that the matches tell us that they will leave us the field, as we also saw with Cremonese and Udinese... There it becomes a question of management, in which we will have to be good at making possession and looking for the goal. They restart and have multiple individual plays, the first consideration will be to never lose balance in attacking”.
The Juventus defense will be tough
Spalletti also commented on the difficulty in breaking through the defense of Juventus and Allegri's game, emphasizing that Juventus duck in front of the penalty area and that Napoli will have to be good at making possession and looking for the goal.
“They duck in front of the penalty area, which is easier defensively than pressing high. Then there's the type of football you want to play, the skills you think your players have and whether it's fun to play that football there, beyond the victories. We will do what we like and what the fans like. A technician passed by here a short time ago, Sarri. He hasn't won anything, but we only talk about his football and therefore he has value and I like that stuff. There was Benitez who won a couple of titles, people talk about him too, but he didn't impress like Sarri, so you have to be careful. Sometimes you leave a sign more with the visible than with what you bring home without work done in the field".
Judicial affairs of Juventus
Spalletti then spoke of off-field issues, including the legal proceedings involving Juventus, emphasizing that they are non-football issues.
“You never know what a team's reaction might be, sometimes the teams get compact and everything that comes from outside becomes a further stimulus, maybe it helped Juve to make this streak. Ultras? Those who want to fight each other instead of seeing the show must stay out. You can't see this stuff here, they have to stay at home and if they don't, this thing must be imposed".
In general, Spalletti has shown to have respect for his opponent, but at the same time underlined his determination to win and lead Napoli to victory.
The match between Napoli and Juventus promises to be exciting and hard-fought, with both teams ready to give their all to get the win.
