Juventus vs Inter: Spalletti Reflects on Team Mentality and New Signings

Luciano Spalletti did not bother dressing it up. On the eve of a pre-season Derby d’Italia in Perth, he looked straight at the cameras and called it as he sees it: Inter are still the benchmark.

“These are the sorts of games that help you understand a lot about the mentality of the team and whether or not we’re working in the right direction,” the Juventus coach said, speaking ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Nerazzurri. Inter, he reminded everyone, remain “a very strong team like Chelsea,” and any lapse in cohesion will be punished. “We will need to be a team in every moment of the game because Inter will find advantages if we’re not compact.”

A friendly in name only, then. The Derby d’Italia rarely does ‘light’. Even in pre-season, it carries a certain edge, and Spalletti clearly intends to use that edge as a measuring stick for where his new-look Juventus stand.

Yildiz to step up in Perth

One of the main attractions in Perth will be Kenan Yildiz. The young attacker has become a symbol of Juventus’ attempt to refresh their frontline, and Spalletti confirmed he will see more of the pitch against Inter than he did in the recent meeting with Chelsea in Hong Kong.

“He will play more than he did in the game against Chelsea,” Spalletti said. The staff have been managing workloads carefully. “We were without three or four players in training today to manage their workloads and the fatigue that is accumulating. It’s not easy to organise these sorts of events. They take extra effort and we’ll have to discuss it over the next few days to see how we’ve recovered.”

The plan for Yildiz is clear, if still flexible. “I will see after the game tomorrow whether he will be a starter (in the league), but I think I will let him play for a half, or almost a half.”

Not a guarantee, but certainly a sign of trust. In a side that has just turned the page on Dusan Vlahovic, every minute in attack now carries extra weight.

Circati praise, but no move

The market inevitably crept into the conversation. Juventus have been linked with Parma centre-back Alessandro Circati, a rising defender who has caught the eye across Serie A.

Spalletti did not hide his admiration, yet he shut the door on any imminent move.

“He’s a promising young player who has shown a lot of great qualities and he could also be of interest to any club,” he acknowledged. “But right now, we only have a couple of strong routes in our sights and those do not concern him. We can’t create alternative situations at the moment because we have a very large squad.”

Compliment delivered, rumour cooled. Juventus, at least for now, are looking elsewhere.

Life after Vlahovic: goals by committee

If the back line feels crowded, the attack feels rebuilt. Randal Kolo Muani and Jeff Ekhator have arrived to replace Vlahovic, with Kerim Alajbegovic also added to the mix. The obvious question followed: does this squad lack a guaranteed 20-goal striker?

Spalletti rejected that idea outright.

“I think we’ve signed players who collectively will be able to exceed those numbers,” he said. “It’s not important to have somebody who scores 20 goals.”

The calendar shapes his thinking. Europa League on Thursdays, Serie A on Sundays. Rotations, travel, fatigue. “This year, the season will be characterised by the fact that it will be played on Thursdays and Sundays, it will be difficult to always play with the same players.”

His solution is structural, not individual. “The Europa League engages you even more than the Champions League. Even without a physical centre-forward, we have Ekhator who has a few of those characteristics, Kolo Muani commands the area. It’s a bit of an open situation, but with the players we have available, with what we’ve done on the market, we’ll be able to make up for it through everyone’s collective work.”

There was also a pointed nod to Alajbegovic’s threat. “Alajbegovic is somebody who can score goals. We want to help Kolo Muani’s numbers. We’re quite calm for the moment.”

No superstar dependency, no obsession with one headline scorer. Spalletti wants volume through variety.

Bastoni, old wounds and a new test

The build-up to any Juventus–Inter match rarely stays purely tactical. Inevitably, Alessandro Bastoni’s name surfaced, dragging with it the memory of his controversial involvement and celebration around Pierre Kalulu’s wrongful sending off the last time these two sides met.

Any sense of a personal vendetta? Spalletti brushed it away.

“It will be simple, we will continue to do what we did after that game,” he said. “We didn’t create any big aftermath, we didn’t talk about the players’ behaviour on the pitch. We just want to play a good game against the strongest side in our league and learn as many things as possible to get to their level.”

That line hangs over everything. Inter, in his eyes, are still “the strongest side in our league.” Juventus, even with new forwards, a hyped young talent in Yildiz and a deep squad, remain the hunters, not the hunted.

Perth will not decide a title. It will not define a season. But for Spalletti, under the floodlights and far from home, it offers something almost as valuable: a clear look at how far Juventus still have to climb to catch the team he openly calls the standard.