Di Gregorio admits Juventus problem after fumbling 17 points | OneFootball

Michele Di Gregorio admits ‘clearly something is not right’ after Juventus fumbled an extraordinary 17 Serie A points from leading situations this season, falling 2-1 to Napoli.

The Bianconeri had taken the lead going into half-time at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona thanks to debutant Randal Kolo Muani.

However, they suffered their first Serie A defeat of the season, turned around by an Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa header and Romelu Lukaku penalty.

“It is certainly disappointing and when you take the lead in several different games only to keep allowing comebacks, clearly something is not right and we need to analyse what is happening,” Di Gregorio told DAZN.

“I don’t believe it is only a psychological issue. Perhaps we drop a bit too deep, maybe we are waiting for something to happen rather than taking the initiative. We are trying to improve in many areas and that includes holding onto a lead.”

Juventus cannot hold a lead this season

epa11852696 Juventus’ forward Randal Kolo Muani scores a goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match SSC Napoli vs Juventus Football Club at Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, 25 January 2025. EPA-EFE/CIRO FUSCO

This is becoming a definite pattern for Juventus, and also explains why they have only managed eight victories in Serie A this season compared to 13 draws and this lone defeat.

Only Venezia have lost more points than Juve from leading situations, 22 to their 17.

“It is evidently something we are missing and it is not a small matter,” added Di Gregorio.

“However, if we look at the first half, it was so different to the second and that is so disappointing. It was a change of attitude that perhaps made us sit too deep and allow the opposition to push forward.

“All we can do is continue working and try to fix all the situations that aren’t working.”

Di Gregorio kept the scoreline down with an extraordinary one-handed save to claw Romelu Lukaku’s header off the line, but could do nothing on the Anguissa header or Lukaku penalty.

“When there are goals, someone has inevitably made a mistake, so we need to analyse the footage and identify what went wrong.”

Never really in the Scudetto race, it now becomes difficult for Juventus even to hang in there for the Champions League places, as they are 16 points adrift of leaders Napoli.