Sandro Sabatini, journalist and frequent panellist on Canale 5’s Pressing programme, used his platform on Sunday evening to deliver one of the sharpest individual criticisms directed at Luciano Spalletti in the aftermath of the 3-2 Sassuolo defeat — and it concerned not the tactical system or the squad balance, but a single substitution decision that Sabatini considered both inexplicable and symptomatic of a broader pattern.
“Gatti Saved Juventus Against Milan — What Has He Done Wrong Since Then?”
The core of Sabatini’s argument is a simple sequential observation. Against Milan, brought on in a match Juventus were drawing and needing a goal, Federico Gatti provided the decisive intervention — the late header that salvaged a point at the Allianz Stadium and demonstrated, once again, what the defender contributes when entrusted with responsibility. At Sassuolo, in a match Juventus were desperately trying to win from 2-1 down against a deep defensive block, Gatti did not come on.
Instead, in the 87th minute, Spalletti sent on Justin Oboavwoduo in place of Alajbegovic — an attacking substitution clearly motivated by the desire to add a physical presence capable of attacking crosses. The logic of the move was entirely clear and entirely legitimate. But for Sabatini, sending on an 19-year-old Next Gen player for precisely that purpose whilst leaving on the bench a centre-back who had done exactly that against Milan — and done it decisively — was a contradiction that demanded an explanation.
“It Is Like Italy at the Euros — Zaccagni Scores, Then Doesn’t Play the Next Match”
The historical analogy Sabatini reached for was the famous Zaccagni episode from Italy’s European Championship campaign in 2024 — when the Lazio winger scored a last-minute equaliser against Croatia that kept Italy in the tournament, only to find himself out of the starting eleven for the following match. It became one of Italian football’s most discussed managerial decisions of the year.
“Last Sunday against Milan, Gatti saves you — and then I don’t understand why he was not brought on again against Sassuolo. What has he done wrong? I watched Italy at the Euros being saved by Zaccagni, and then the following match he doesn’t play. In a Juventus that brings on even the young English player to go and attack crosses with his head, the one who would have done exactly that was Gatti.”
“Bremer Was Not at His Best — the Defensive Structure Had Its Problems”
Sabatini broadened the criticism beyond the single substitution to address the defensive performance as a whole. “At centre-back they played Lucumí, Kelly, and Bremer — who was not at his best, as you could see in the positioning on the first goal. Against Milan, why did Gatti come on? And tonight, why didn’t he? Last Sunday it was right to put Gatti on. Now that he didn’t come on, you tell me it is all fine anyway — and so everything Spalletti does is always right regardless.”
It is the pointed conclusion of an observer who has spent the week listening to the unanimous institutional defence of Spalletti’s management and has chosen the specific case of one unused substitution to raise a question that the post-match consensus has been too generous to ask.
