Luciano Spalletti and Weston McKennie both left Genoa's 2-0 win over Juventus with the same message. The loss at Genoa vs Juventus was about running, duels and physical effort, not a system argument. Kingsley Ehizibue struck in the 12th minute and Tommaso Baldanzi added a second in the 28th.

Spalletti's complaint about the physical battle

Spalletti was direct after the match. He said, "It’s difficult to accept the level of running and intensity of challenges, because we lost duels in attack, in defence, we lost them all over the place. Sooner or later, we need to figure out what’s going on and raise the physical level, the willingness to battle for the ball."

He added: "What worries me is that I am struggling to let the players understand football has changed. Before anything else, you need to win these duels, deal with being harassed all over the pitch, because that’s what football is now."

That lines up with Juventus's league return, which is poor enough on its own. They sit 13th with 10 points after nine Serie A matches, have lost five of those nine games and have scored only eight league goals.

McKennie's view of the defeat

McKennie backed the same reading when he spoke to football-italia.net. He said, "For me, it has nothing to do with it [tactics]," before adding, "We must do more. Run, fight, and make more sacrifices for the teammates."

He went a step further: "In the end, you can say all you want about tactics, but there are 11 players on the field, and the battle is on the field. Genoa did better than us today, and that’s how it ended."

The criticism lands because it comes from inside the dressing room, not just from the bench. McKennie played 90 minutes and finished on a 5.78 rating, while Tommaso Baldanzi was the standout performer with a goal and assist in 69 minutes and an 8.95 rating.

Daniele De Rossi gave Genoa credit for the way they handled the game. He said it was a "complete performance" and added that his team held out under pressure better than in recent matches. Genoa have now won three straight home games after beating Venezia and Fiorentina before Juventus.

The debate over tactics will always hover around a defeat like this, especially when the result is as flat as 2-0. But both Spalletti and McKennie pointed to the same basic failure, and Juventus have to show a higher physical level fast. They return to Serie A after a night in which Genoa won the battles that mattered.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →