Old Lady can kiss Scudetto goodbye – underdog handed Juventus a stunning slap

Juventus were stunned in Cagliari as a cleverly worked set piece condemned them to a surprise defeat 1-0, only their second setback under Luciano Spalletti. Luca Mazzitelli’s well-taken volley proved decisive on a night when the hosts made the most of their few openings.

The Bianconeri arrived in Sardinia in excellent form, having won six of their previous seven Serie A matches, highlighted by a dominant 5–0 victory over Cremonese. Kenan Yildiz had recovered from flu symptoms, while Francisco Conceicao and Federico Gatti were fit enough for the bench, leaving only Dusan Vlahovic, Daniele Rugani and Arkadiusz Milik unavailable.

Cagliari, by contrast, had collected just one point from their opening three games and were coming off a heavy 3–0 loss to Genoa, although Yerry Mina returned to the starting XI despite a long injury list.

Juventus thought they had an early chance to take control when Fabio Miretti went down in the box after a challenge with Mazzitelli, but a VAR review overturned the initial penalty decision. Miretti remained lively, attempting an audacious lob from distance and later testing Elia Caprile after a lay-off from Jonathan David. Yildiz also found himself in the spotlight, seeing yellow for simulation near the Cagliari area.

After the break, Cagliari began to threaten sporadically, with Sebastiano Esposito forcing Mattia Perin into a near-post save following clever work from Semih Kilicsoy. At the other end, Caprile was in inspired form, tipping Andrea Cambiaso’s curling effort around the post and watching Yildiz’s bending strike drift just over the bar. Miretti then unleashed a half-volley that again drew a sharp one-handed save, though the ball had already gone out of play.

Against the flow of the match, Cagliari struck the decisive blow. From a rehearsed free-kick routine, Gianluca Gaetano rolled the ball into the path of Mazzitelli, who had slipped away from his marker and volleyed low into the near corner from the edge of the area.

Juventus poured forward in response, forcing further saves from Caprile and rattling the woodwork when a deflected Yildiz effort crashed against the base of the post.

Despite sustained pressure until the final whistle, Juventus were unable to find a way through, leaving Cagliari to celebrate a memorable victory earned through organization, discipline, and one moment of clinical execution.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 21

Friday

Pisa - Atalanta 1-1 (0-0)

/Durosinmi 87 - Krstovic 83/

Saturday

Udinese - Inter 0-1 (0-1)

/Martinez 20/

Napoli - Sassuolo 1-0 (1-0)

/Lobotka 7/

Cagliari - Juventus 1-0 (0-0)

/Mazzitelli 65/

Sunday

14.30: (2.90) Parma (2.75) Genoa (2.95)

17.00: (2.25) Bologna (3.50) Fiorentina (3.40)

20.00: (3.60) Torino (3.35) Roma (2.20)

22.45: (1.30) Milan (5.80) Lecce (12.0)

Monday

20.30: (2.60) Cremonese (3.10) Verona (2.90)

22.45: (2.75) Lazio (2.95) Como (2.85)

***odds are subject to change***