Juventus' Late Collapse Against Sassuolo Stuns Players
Juventus thought they had escaped. Twice they dragged themselves back from the brink, twice they wiped out Sassuolo leads. And then, with the clock almost dead, they threw it all away.
Vasilije Adzic’s winner in stoppage time cut straight through a side that had already been warned all night. The hosts needed no second invitation. One more badly held line, one more lapse in concentration, and the game was gone.
As the whistle went, Guglielmo Vicario exploded. The on-loan Tottenham goalkeeper, one of Juventus’ few consistent bright spots this season, stood roaring at his back line, arms flung wide in disbelief. Any sense of relief at having at least salvaged a point had vanished in an instant. All that was left was anger.
High line, heavy price
This was a defensive horror show for the Bianconeri. Their offside trap, supposedly a weapon, became an open door. Sassuolo pierced it again and again, timing runs with ease against a high line that never looked truly in sync.
Sebastiano Esposito struck first, then Kieron Bowie restored the lead after Juventus had initially responded. Both goals told the same story: defenders stepping up at different moments, gaps opening, communication evaporating. The structure simply wasn’t there.
At the other end, Edon Zhegrova almost rescued them on his own. The winger dragged Juventus back into the contest with two moments of individual brilliance, slaloming through defenders and finishing with conviction. His work deserved more than this ending. It still wasn’t enough to mask a collective failure in the defensive third that ultimately decided the night.
Vicario: “Juventus cannot concede two goals like that”
Vicario didn’t soften a single word afterwards. Speaking to DAZN, the 29-year-old was clear: this was not about tactics they hadn’t prepared. This was about mentality.
“There is great bitterness, because I understand the desire to go and win the game, because we are Juventus and it is our obligation to aim for victory every time, but we lost our balance and we talked all week about this,” he said.
He underlined the standard that should be non-negotiable in Turin.
“Juventus cannot concede two goals like that. This is a club with a glorious history and we cannot allow goals like that. We need to be more calm and balanced, because we have a team full of quality, and we will be able to create chances.”
The message was blunt: ambition is not the problem. Game management is.
No excuses over Locatelli blow
Juventus are not at full strength and everyone knows it. Captain Manuel Locatelli’s absence hangs over the squad like a shadow. The midfielder faces four to six months out after meniscus surgery, ripping a key piece out of the side’s core.
Losing a leader of that stature would offer an easy alibi. Vicario refused to take it.
“We’re sad to be losing Manuel, but it’s a long-term injury, and we do have players of quality in the squad. We can’t just keep seeking excuses,” he insisted.
The injuries are real. The responsibility, in his eyes, is bigger.
From late heroics to late heartbreak
What stings even more is how quickly the mood has flipped. Only a week ago, Juventus had snatched a result in similar late drama, Federico Gatti coming off the bench to grab a 1-1 draw against Milan. That felt like a team that could suffer, hang in, and still find a way.
This time, after doing the hard work to claw themselves level, they lost control at the very moment experience should have taken over. The same chaos that had haunted them all evening returned in the final seconds.
Asked whether the dressing room was feeling more anger or regret, Vicario didn’t separate the two.
“In my view both, because we had managed to turn the tide in our favour. We must be able to control these moments of the match better, because we’ve got the quality,” he said.
Quality is not the question. Juventus showed enough of it to come back twice. The real test now is whether this group can finally learn how to hold what it has — or whether nights like this will keep dragging their season off course.
