At 02:45 on September 14 CEST, Juventus FC will visit Sassuolo in Round 4 of Serie A. Ahead of the match, Juventus FC manager Luciano Spalletti held a press conference. This is the second part of his remarks.

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Good afternoon, coach. I'd like to know about Douglas Luiz. Do you think he has become one of your most unexpected, impressive, and surprising signings?

No, Douglas Luiz is certainly not a gamble. He is an unquestionably high-level player in football. What I mean is that he has proven himself to be a strong and excellent player in many places. He may have simply needed to feel trusted in his abilities again, which has helped him return to top form completely.

When he first arrived, he used to hold the ball too long sometimes. Now he understands that the faster the ball moves, the more touches he gets. His main playing area is between the defense and the penalty box. As long as the ball is moving, it will eventually come to him. If he runs to the wings frequently to join attacks in specific areas, as we've pointed out before, he may see the ball pass him four or five times without touching it once. Then when he needs to run back to his defensive position, there's no shuttle service—he has to run back at full pace. At that point, he can easily lose control of the game, lose the rhythm and frequency of possession that he can control with his feet.

He combines long and short passing excellently. He not only has great endurance but also outstanding physical qualities. Though not tall, he is strong in physical duels, can withstand opponents, is willing to compete, and is very willing to run for his teammates, giving everything. So this is Douglas Luiz—all of these are elite qualities he possesses naturally, and I don't deserve any special credit for them.

Good afternoon, coach. First, could you please give us an update on the injured players? And I'd like to ask about Adrien Rabiot. In my view, his coaching career path has been very smart and logical: starting from the youth team, then the reserve team, then excellent performances in Serie B last season, and now making a big jump to Serie A. Since you were once his coach, do you think he will be able to become a head coach in the future? What do you think of his excellent coaching performance so far?

Well, let me start with Adrien Rabiot. Yes, I predicted he would become an excellent coach in the future because he was a player with many elite qualities. When he played for Roma, he was the type of player who could lead the entire team with his intelligence because he had a unique understanding of ball control. And although he was quite young at the time, he had exceptionally strong qualities on the pitch. This is very evident in his tactical choices.

Today, the tactical solutions he brought to teams as a player are still clearly visible in the team he coaches. You can see that he has a very clear vision for his football philosophy, and I'm not surprised by this at all. I sincerely congratulate him.

As for the injured players... who specifically are you asking about? McKennie and Cambiaso will unfortunately find it very difficult to play tomorrow. Very difficult... because tomorrow is match day. But the overall idea is this: tomorrow morning we'll do a final fitness test on Cambiaso. As for McKennie, we'll prepare him directly for the next match on Thursday because we don't want to take any risks. We'll assess Cambiaso; he will be in available status. But the principle behind this squad selection is having strong players in every position. Whenever I select 11 starting players, I know there are another 11 starting-caliber players on the bench, because that's how football works.

This means that even if we lose a player to injury, we can bring in another starting-caliber player to replace him fully, giving other players a chance to be the protagonists. This isn't just about losing a starter; it also helps us discover more protagonists. This is a fundamental shift in perspective: not "we're missing someone," but "someone new is ready." We feel this deeply, and it's also the first intention behind our squad selection.

So we'll enter the match with complete confidence, because a strong team isn't defined by "injured players we're missing" but by the "quality" we demonstrate on the pitch. You will see the quality we show, which depends on our players' strong desire to prove themselves and their eagerness to convince every Juventus FC fan that the players we've selected have the full ability to make a name for themselves in this team.

Good afternoon, coach. Following up on your colleague's question about your first impression of working with Pape Matar Sarr over the past few days—what can he add to the midfield? How many minutes has he regained fitness-wise now? And I'd like to ask about Ouzou. Given the current injury crisis, will he now permanently feature in the squad going forward?

Pape Matar Sarr, as we've said many times, is an interesting player with a bright future because he can thrive in any tactical environment. He's an extremely versatile player with excellent running ability that doesn't require much effort. You will always see him appear precisely and punctually in different areas. When you think the team's overall tactical structure can't reach a certain position, you'll find that Pape Matar Sarr has already run there because he has excellent ability to make forward runs and abundant energy reserves.

In constant scanning and movement across the pitch, he also combines very high tactical quality—he knows how to intercept, has excellent technical detail, and is proficient in timing overlaps and finishing actions. We are very confident that we have a strong player, and if tomorrow's match requires it, he will definitely start to show everyone this.

Ouzou is a rising star with a bright future and many excellent qualities. He still needs to gain more competition experience and learn about himself, but physically he is certainly a strong "human shield." When you duel with him, he creates many problems for you. When he shields the ball, it's very difficult for others to take it from him. He has timing, can run, and covers a large area. He just needs to learn to better anticipate things during matches—because on the football pitch, when everyone sees your intentions, the game becomes harder. But recognizing changes in the situation from the start gives you a decisive advantage to maintain until the end.

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