Spalletti on Juventus: "Players realised everything depended on them. Alajbegovic is a young lad..."

Spalletti confident ahead of AZ Alkmaar trip; squad rotation planned with McKennie sidelined by muscle fatigue.

Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti held his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday's Europa League visit to AZ Alkmaar, the fourth group-stage fixture. Spalletti expressed satisfaction with his side's recent 1-0 win over Napoli in Serie A, noting that "the squad gave an important response, they understood that everything depended on them, they have more confidence." He acknowledged the absence of Weston McKennie, who is sidelined with muscle fatigue, but said the injury "always costs something."

For the Alkmaar match, Spalletti indicated he would rotate his squad, with Sarr and Kelly needing recovery time. He confirmed Kolo Muani is likely to start in attack and said young prospect Alajbegovic "has taken on important responsibilities" and will feature, either from the start or during the match. The manager also noted that new signing Ekhator, who replaced the injured Locatelli on the Europa League list, has limited playing time but offers an alternative up front.