Spalletti: Bologna win the most important of Juventus tenure
Juventus bounced back from their defeat to Napoli by downing Bologna, a result Luciano Spalletti believes could be crucial moving forward.
Despite being just 10 games into his Juventus tenure, Luciano Spalletti believes he delivered his most important victory for the club against Bologna on Sunday.
Juan Cabal came off the bench to score the only goal in the 64th minute at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, with Genoa also seeing Torbjorn Heggem sent off in the second half.
It's a result that moved Juventus up to fifth in the Serie A standings and within a point of the Champions League places, ahead of a huge game against Roma next weekend.
Juventus have now won two of their last three league matches (L1), as many wins as they had in their previous nine (D5 L2) at the end of Igor Tudor's time at the club.
"Absolutely," Spalletti told DAZN Italia when asked if the victory was the most important of his Juventus tenure so far.
"Because we were facing a team that has an identity, quality and enthusiasm, they were built well and even down to 10 men, they made it difficult for us.
"Having won here means even more for my players, and they must be congratulated this evening. They did really well."
Both sides had their chances in an end-to-end first half, but the game changed in the space of five minutes after the break, with Cabal's goal and Heggem's sending off.
Cabal rose highest to meet Kenan Yildiz's cross into the box following a short corner routine, with the Colombian having now scored two goals in six Serie A appearances this season, after failing to find the back of the net in his previous three campaigns in the competition (40 matches).
Yildiz, meanwhile, continues to impress.
Indeed, among the players who have been directly involved in 20 or more goals in the last two seasons in the top five European Leagues, only Barcelona's Lamine Yamal (35, 2007) is younger than Yildiz (20, 12 goals and eight assists).
"I had seen things done well in training, and told the directors that I saw the players energetic and reacting well in training," Spalletti added on Juventus' performance.
"We needed a performance that could give them confidence, and I hope after that we can continue to improve.
"Aside from the goal, the overall performance needs to be evaluated in football. Juventus were in the heart of the game for 90 minutes tonight, battling for every ball.
"We went beyond these individual duels that Bologna force you into, and this bodes well for the future."
