Pape Matar Sarr arrived at Juventus injured. He has been training with the group for a matter of weeks. His debut against NEC on Thursday was his first competitive start in months. And yet — with Locatelli and Thuram both in surgery and the midfield reduced to bare bones — he is set to start again against Atalanta on Sunday evening. The Senegalese midfielder addressed the situation with honesty and warmth in his pre-match interview with Sky Sport.
“It Won’t Be an Easy Match — but We Are Well Prepared and Have a Great Opportunity”
Sarr’s competitive assessment of Sunday’s fixture was calibrated and unambiguous. “I think it will not be an easy match — but we have prepared it well and will certainly be ready for Sunday evening. We have a great opportunity and the possibility of winning.” It is the response of a player who has understood, already in his first weeks at the club, what the Juventus environment demands in terms of public confidence and competitive intent.
“Spalletti Has Been Helping Me — He Gave Me Advice Between the First and Second Half Against NEC”
The most revealing passage of the interview concerned the manager’s direct role in his integration — and specifically the half-time intervention against NEC that helped transform his performance in the second period. “He is helping me — it was my first match and I had been injured for three months. He tried to give me advice on my positioning, the ball, how to cover the pitch — and he helped me between the first and second half.”
It is a small but significant window into how Spalletti manages the most delicate individual situations: not with broad tactical lectures delivered to the group, but with specific, personal, real-time guidance delivered at the precise moment when a player most needs it. The improvement in Sarr’s second-half contribution against NEC — more structured, more positionally assured — was not accidental.
“Vicario Is Helping Me Too — I Am Starting to Learn Italian and He Gives Me Lots of Advice”
The second mentor Sarr named was entirely unexpected — and entirely touching. “Yes, he helps me. I am starting to learn Italian and he gives me lots of advice.” The detail that Vicario — a matter of weeks removed from being Sarr’s Tottenham teammate — has become one of the primary integration figures for the Senegalese midfielder at a new club in a foreign country captures something of the warmth of the dressing room dynamic that Spalletti has been working to build since the summer.
On the Brink of a Second Consecutive Start
The operational reality for Sunday is clear. With Douglas Luiz, Koopmeiners, and young Owusu as the only available midfield alternatives, Sarr’s physical condition — still short of 100% after arriving in Turin carrying a muscle problem — does not excuse him from the demands of the fixture list. Spalletti has signalled his readiness to trust him again from the first minute. The Senegalese midfielder, who warned his new club that Atalanta will not be easy, appears entirely ready to prove that the warning was issued with the full competitive seriousness of a player who intends to be part of the solution.
