Saro con te (I will be with you) were the words that Spalletti had written on the Napoli bibs as he led the club to the 2022/23 Scudetto, their first Serie A title since 1990. Yet on Sunday evening he tasted a 2-1 defeat, with the recently installed Juventus manager a forlorn figure in the dugout.
A lot more than pride was on the line as the Bianconeri stepped onto the pitch to tackle a Napoli side that have not been beaten on their home patch for over a year. Victory would have resulted in Juventus leaping over Bologna, next weekend's opponents, and into fifth place.
Former Azzuri manager Spalletti was forced to field a weakened attack following the absence of star striker Dusan Vlahovic, who suffered a high-grade adductor injury during the last weekend's victory over Cagliari.
Francisco Conceicao and Kenan Yildiz kicked off as the pair to lead the attack, Turkish winger Yildiz was employed as a false no9, which resulted in him being isolated upfront and unable to make his usual impact during the first half.
Juventus outplayed in Naples
A seventh-minute goal from Rasmus Hojlund allowed the hosts to stamp their authority on the game, and the hostile environment within the sold-out stadium increased in fervour. The writing was already on the wall for Juventus, as Napoli hadn't lost a game since 2022 once they had taken the lead.
David Neres, who provided the assist for the opening goal, was in fine form throughout the first half. His trickery down the wing created a multitude of chances, with the Brazilian having now contributed to six goals in his past seven games.
With Juventus creating a total of 0.1 expected goals by the end of the opening half, it was clear Spalletti had to change things up to gain a foothold of the game. The Bianconeri entered the break only trailing by a goal, thanks to Scott McTominay's misguided early header and a couple of saves from shotstopper Michele Di Gregorio.
Spalletti suffers at Napoli
Some much needed half-time substitutions were made, as Spalletti opted for a front three formation, with Canada international Jonathan David arriving as center forward that allowing Yildiz to drop deeper. The switch vastly improved Juventus, who limited Napoli's goalscoring chances.
Juve snatched a 58th-minute equalizer courtesy of Yildiz's clinical finish from close range, set up from a tight angle by Napoli target Weston McKennie.
Danish hot-shot Hojlund leaped like a salmon to head Napoli back into the lead 20 minutes later to leave Spalletti with egg on his face, having just brought off the attacking threat of Yildiz.
Conte instructed his players to play deep during the closing 10 minutes, with Spalletti's response sending on Edon Zhegrova not enough to suffer his first defeat with Juventus.
Juve's high expectations
Although the Bianconeri were not expected to register an away win, the respectable result did not truly reflect the difference between the two teams.
Beset by injuries in defense and attack has left Juventus short of options, who this campaign appear to be heavily reliant on Vlahovic and Yildiz to find the back of the net.
Spalletti faces a testing and pivotal run of games that could decide whether he stays at Juventus after the summer. The Bianconeri tackle a must-win Champions League midweek clash at home to Pafos, followed by back-to-back matches against tough highfliers Bologna and AS Roma.
JUVENTUS: Di Gregorio - Koopmeiners, Kelly, Kalulu - Cabal (David, 45), Thuram (Zhegrova. 82), Locatelli, Cambiaso (Kostic. 71) - McKennie - Yildiz (Openda, 76), Conceicao (Miretti 76). Subs: Perin, Adzic, Mario, David, Rouhi, Scaglia, Filipe.