Koopmeiners cannot save Juve in a late defeat to Sassuolo

Update: two minutes after the press conference Juventus reported on Sunday evening the first defeat of the season, with the Old Lady narrowly losing to Sassuolo after a crazy final phase. Teun Koopmeiners, who got his first start of the season, could not provide a goal or an assist.

Spalletti's confidence in Koopmeiners

The 67-year-old Italian Luciano Spalletti praised the Dutchman during the press conference and said that he now has a much better picture of Koopmeiners. ‘For footballers it makes a clear difference when they get more playing minutes. Teun is now much freer and plays with more confidence. He is a complete footballer and I expect a great match from him,’ the coach said.

Sassuolo's late comeback

The match remained exciting: Nemanja Matic, now 38, delivered a beautiful pass after 65 minutes to Sebastiano Esposito, who struck the ball into the far corner. Koopmeiners left the field in the 71st minute and saw his team equalise just before time via Edon Zhegrova. In the 89th minute Kieron Bowie put Sassuolo back in the lead, after which Zhegrova brought the score to 2-2 in injury time. Ultimately Vasilije Adzic, a Juventus loanee, decided the game in the very last minute with a goal for the 3-2 victory.

The Old Lady now looks ahead to the Europa League tie with NEC on Thursday with mixed feelings, with kickoff in Turin at 21:00. The team hopes to use the lesson of the recent defeat for a stronger performance in the League tie.

Noa Lang's Napoli enjoyed a much better evening. The Dutchman played a half against Bologna, which was beaten 1-0 thanks to a goal from Stanislav Lobotka. Sam Beukema did not get any playing minutes against his former employer.