TURIN, ITALY – NOVEMBER 08: Jonathan David of Juventus and Lois Openda of Juventus during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and Torino FC at on November 08, 2025 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Image Photo Agency/Getty Images)
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In retrospect, could Juventus’ slender 3-2 away win against Bodo Glimt in the Champions League prove to be the turning point for Luciano Spalletti’s reign?
After a bright start, Spalletti was beginning to understand the size of the task at hand with this iteration of The Old Lady.
A sneaky win away at Cremonese was followed by a string of draws in which Juve played well for parts but also looked, like they have done all season, incredibly fragile defensively.
In addition, Juve would rarely threatened the opposition goal. And when they did, would prove extremely wasteful.
In Serie A, the last goal scored by a striker from open play was back on the opening day of the season, when Dusan Vlahovic scored the second in the 2-0 win over Parma.
Since then, only penalties have been converted by Juve’s beleaguered forward line.
In the slender win over the Norwegian side in the Arctice Circle, two of Spalletti’s strikers scored.
Lois Openda, who hadn’t scored a goal of any kind since April, got Juve back into the game against Glimt after great work from Kenan Yildiz.
Openda, who arrived in the final days of the summer transfer window, has looked a man shorn of confidence since landing. Used in unfamiliar positions by Spalletti’s predecessor Igor Tudor, Spalletti has tried using the Belgian in a more natural role.
The goal will have gone a long way in restoring some of his self belief. The same also applies to Canadian striker David.
David arrived on a free from Lille, where he’d scored some 59 league goals in the last three seasons.
Yet at Juve David has, like Openda, suffered from being utilised in various roles that didn’t play to his strengths.
The Canadian scored the winner against Glimt in the dying minutes, showing that classic poacher instinct as goalkeeper Nikita Haikin could only palm the ball into his path following Yildiz’s cross-cum-shot.
Against Cagliari at the Allianz Stadium, it was again Yildiz who came to the rescue, scoring twice in the 2-1 win.
With Vlahovic also now on a barren run of form, Spalletti will need more goals from David and Openda in the coming weeks, especially in sight of a hostile trip to Naples next weekend.
What remains to be seen going forward is whether Spalletti will continue with a one-striker system that he’s used since coming in, or whether he pivots and makes the most of having three strikers and plays two of Openda, Vlahovic and David together.
Openda is more of a second striker than either Vlahovic or David, who both prefer to remain in the box.
There’s also the case of Yildiz, who turned the game on its head in Norway on Tuesday and is by far and away Juve’s best player.
Does Spalletti switch to a 4-3-1-2, with Yildiz playing in behind Vlahovic and Openda/David? Or does he continue as is with a 3-4-2-1 which, to be frank, hasn’t worked for the majority of the season.
Whatever the case, Juve need to put a winning run together in the league. With Napoli, Roma and the Milan two beginning to pull away at the top of the table, Juve can ill afford to drop more points going forward.
Spalletti needs goals, and perhaps now he’s found them in Openda and David. Confidence somewhat renewed after a difficult first few months in Bianconero colours.