There were plenty of reasons for Juventus to have a difficult afternoon.
They had played 120 minutes and penalties against Roma in the Serie A Women’s Cup final seven days earlier. Three days after that came the disappointment of a 2–1 Champions League defeat to Benfica.
Now Napoli were in Biella.
And after 16 minutes, Juventus were losing.
Emilie Mece, who had signed a new Juventus contract until 2029 just three days earlier before immediately joining Napoli on loan, reacted quickest when Daniëlle de Jong parried Natalia Kozak’s effort.
0–1.
Of course it was her.
For a Juventus side beginning a new Serie A season under Isaac Guerrero, this was suddenly becoming another problem to solve.
They solved it.
Not spectacularly throughout. Not without a few uncomfortable moments. But by the end, Alba Redondo, Emma Stølen Godø and Remina Chiba had all scored, Juventus had hit the woodwork twice and a potentially awkward afternoon had become a 3–1 victory.
That might be the most encouraging part.
Five Minutes Was Enough
Napoli’s lead lasted five minutes.
Juventus did not respond by throwing bodies forward or trying to manufacture an immediate moment of individual brilliance. They kept moving the ball.
Eva Schatzer switched play towards Andrea Carbonell, who advanced down the left and sent a low delivery into the penalty area.
Alba Redondo was already moving.
The summer signing got ahead of Caroline Pleidrup and guided the ball into the bottom corner.
1–1.
It was Redondo’s first Serie A appearance and her first league goal for Juventus, a pretty efficient introduction to Italian football.
More importantly, Juventus had immediately removed the possibility of the match becoming something stranger.
Napoli had arrived with a compact shape and a clear route towards hurting Juventus in transition. Give them an advantage to protect and the afternoon could have become increasingly frustrating.
Instead, within five minutes, everyone was back where they started.
Juventus Had To Work For This
Napoli deserve credit.
The historical record between these teams is fairly gruesome reading from their perspective. Juventus had won 11 of the previous 12 meetings, with Napoli still searching for their first victory in the fixture.
This did not feel like a team simply waiting for the inevitable.
Mece was dangerous when Napoli could attack space. Kozak provided another outlet and Alessandro Spugna’s side made Juventus work through a compact defensive structure rather than simply allowing Guerrero’s team to dominate territory.
For a while, it worked.
Then Juventus began finding little openings.
Carbonell struck the crossbar three minutes into the second half.
Seven minutes later, Júlia Bartel found Amaiur Sarriegi. With her back to goal, Sarriegi protected possession and laid the ball into the path of Godø.
One low finish later, Juventus had completed the turnaround.
It was not an especially complicated goal.
It did not need to be.
Sarriegi Makes Juventus Better
Amaiur Sarriegi did not score, but she was involved in much of Juventus’ best attacking work.
Her contribution to Godø’s goal demonstrated why Guerrero values her versatility so highly.
She can run beyond the defence. She can drift wide. She can receive with her back to goal. She can create space for somebody arriving from midfield.
Against Napoli, Godø was the beneficiary.
Eight minutes later, Sarriegi nearly became the scorer herself.
Redondo produced a lovely nutmeg to release her into the penalty area and Sarriegi’s angled effort clipped the outside of the post.
Juventus had now struck the woodwork twice.
The 2–1 scoreline remained uncomfortable, but the match itself was increasingly being played on their terms.
Winning Is Also About Knowing When Not To Attack
Perhaps the most interesting comments afterwards came from Godø.
She was happy with the victory but felt Juventus had surrendered possession too easily during the second half.
Her reasoning went beyond simply wanting more control.
When you are playing every three or four days, keeping the ball is recovery.
That feels particularly important for this Juventus team.
The season has barely begun and they have already experienced a cup final, extra time, penalties, Champions League disappointment and their Serie A opener.
Guerrero cannot ask his players to spend every match sprinting relentlessly forwards.
Sometimes they need to make the opposition run instead.
That understanding was not perfect against Napoli. There were turnovers and moments when the game became more open than Juventus would have wanted.
But this is the first league match of a new managerial era.
There is time.
More importantly, there are already three points.
Chiba Makes Sure
Napoli remained one goal away from changing the entire mood of the afternoon until stoppage time.
Then Remina Chiba ended the discussion.
Redondo had departed in the 86th minute after an excellent Serie A debut. Chiba replaced her and required approximately five minutes to make her own contribution.
Martina Lenzini found the Japanese forward on the right side of the penalty area.
The angle was horrible.
Chiba scored anyway.
Her diagonal effort flew across goal and into the far corner.
3–1.
A match Juventus had spent much of the afternoon carefully negotiating suddenly had a comfortable-looking scoreline.
It was slightly harsh on Napoli.
It was also exactly what good teams do.
Juventus Found A Way
Juventus have still never lost their opening Serie A fixture.
Ten seasons have now produced nine victories and one draw.
But maintaining that record is less interesting than how they did it this time.
They went behind.
They were playing a third demanding match in eight days.
Napoli gave them an opponent willing to sit compactly, attack quickly and make the afternoon irritating.
Juventus found different answers.
Redondo’s movement produced the equaliser.
Sarriegi’s hold-up play created the second.
Godø supplied the finish.
Bartel helped Juventus take control of midfield.
Then Guerrero looked towards his bench and Chiba killed the game.
This was not 90 minutes of overwhelming football announcing that Juventus are immediately ready to reclaim the Scudetto from Roma.
It was probably more useful than that.
There will be plenty of afternoons this season when everything works.
The important ones might be those when it doesn’t.
On the first afternoon of their Serie A season, Juventus were tired, fell behind and had to figure something out.
They did.
Three points.
That will do.
