Serie A | Cagliari 1-0 Juventus: Spalletti shocked in Sardinia

Juventus suffered a shock defeat in Cagliari , surprised by the Luca Mazzitelli volley on a set play routine, for only the second loss under Luciano Spalletti.

The Bianconeri were on sparkling form after winning six of their last seven Serie A games including a 5-0 demolition of Cremonese , with Kenan Yildiz shaking off flu symptoms, Francisco Conceicao and Federico Gatti back on the bench , meaning only Dusan Vlahovic, Daniele Rugani and Arek Milik were still out of action. The Sardinians had one point from three rounds, fresh off a sobering 3-0 defeat to Genoa. Yerry Mina returned, but Gabriele Zappa, Michael Folorunsho, Alessandro Deiola, Andrea Belotti and Mattia Felici were injured.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

CAGLIARI, ITALY – JANUARY 17: Juventus’s coach Luciano Spalletti looks on during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and Juventus FC at Stadio Sant’Elia on January 17, 2026 in Cagliari , Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

The referee pointed to the spot on 15 minutes when Fabio Miretti went down in a coming together with Luca Mazzitelli , but changed his mind following the VAR review, as the Cagliari player had his foot in front and was kicked by the Juventus midfielder.

Miretti also attempted a lob from midfield, and forced a save from Elia Caprile on the Jonathan David lay-off, but Kenan Yildiz was booked for simulation after going down in the vicinity of Ze Pedro.

CAGLIARI, ITALY – JANUARY 17: Fabio Miretti of Juventus lays injured during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and Juventus FC at Stadio Sant’Elia on January 17, 2026 in Cagliari , Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

After the restart, Semih Kilicsoy managed to squirm a pass through to Sebastiano Esposito when surrounded at the corner flag, forcing the save from Mattia Perin at the near post.

Caprile flew to palm an Andrea Cambiaso curler round the upright from the edge of the area, while Yildiz rode past three tackles to bend his finish just over the crossbar.

Miretti’s half-volley also prompted a one-handed Caprile save, but the ball had already gone out of play on the cross.

CAGLIARI, ITALY – JANUARY 17: Gianluca Gaetano of Cagliari in contrast with Kenan yildiz of Juventus during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and Juventus FC at Stadio Sant’Elia on January 17, 2026 in Cagliari , Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

Instead, Cagliari scored completely against the run of play. It was an intelligent set play routine, as Gianluca Gaetano took the free kick low to find Luca Mazzitelli , who had peeled away from Pierre Kalulu ready to volley into the near bottom corner from 15 yards.

CAGLIARI, ITALY – JANUARY 17: Luca Mazzittelli of Cagliari celebrates his goal 1-0 with the team-mates during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and Juventus FC at Stadio Sant’Elia on January 17, 2026 in Cagliari , Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

Juventus kept pushing, Kalulu’s powerful cross-shot stinging Caprile’s gloves, as did another Kenan Yildiz solo strike.

When the goalkeeper was beaten, he was rescued by the frame of the goal, as the Yildiz strike took a big deflection off Mina to thump the base of the upright.

The Bianconeri tried to the very end, but struggled to create clear-cut scoring opportunities.

Mazzitelli 65 (C)

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