Juventus, despite controlling possession and creating several promising opportunities, were held to a frustrating goalless draw by a resilient Napoli side in Serie A on Saturday. The result extended Juventus’s scoring drought in the league to four games, a streak last witnessed in 1992.
Juventus manager Thiago Motta acknowledged the unexpected courage displayed by Napoli, who defended with unwavering determination, making it difficult for the home side to find a breakthrough. “I expected this attitude (from Napoli), although they played at our home and I didn’t expect them to be as courageous as they normally are,” Motta explained. “Whether it was their strategy or our merit, we found ourselves facing a team with a low defensive block in the penalty area, making it hard to attack.”
Despite the lack of goals, Motta saw improvement in his team’s performance compared to their previous match against AS Roma. “In my opinion today we did better than in the match against AS Roma. Inside the box, today it was difficult against a team that defends well with defenders who are strong in the area… We had a good performance but not enough to win,” he added.
Juventus’s frustration was further amplified by the goalless performance of striker Dusan Vlahovic, who was substituted at halftime after failing to score in his fourth consecutive game across all competitions. Midfielder Weston McKennie acknowledged the team’s need for better finishing and highlighted the importance of supporting Vlahovic. “It’s difficult to win without scoring, we needed an extra contribution from us midfielders too,” McKennie said. “(Vlahovic) won’t be happy but the whole team must put him in a position to score.”
On the other side, Napoli manager Antonio Conte expressed moderate satisfaction with the draw, praising his team’s defensive efforts but emphasizing the need for improvement in attack. “I realise the difficulty of getting a draw away to Juventus, a team that was 18 points away from Napoli last season,” Conte stated. “We worked on this system, I am moderately satisfied with the defense, but we could’ve done far better in attack and I think we had the clearest scoring opportunities.”
Conte highlighted the need for striker Romelu Lukaku to regain full fitness after a recent arrival at the club. “I think we did it well with the midfielders. Romelu still needs to get into the kind of shape that I require,” Conte explained. “I had asked for consistency and it was a good performance in terms of focus, but we can and must do better when we have the ball, as there were some favorable situations.”
Juventus will travel to 11th-placed Genoa next Saturday, followed by a crucial Champions League encounter against RB Leipzig on October 2. Napoli, meanwhile, will host Monza in the next round of Serie A matches after facing Palermo in the second round of Coppa Italia on Thursday.
