Spalletti explains new McKennie role for Juventus vs. Galatasaray

Luciano Spalletti explains that Juventus’ absentees and Galatasaray’s quality on the wings prompted him to play Weston McKennie at left-back, and insists the whole team’s quality, not just a single player, might help the Old Lady recover from three goals down.

Juventus host Galatasaray in the second leg of the Champions League knockout play-off tonight, following a 5-2 loss suffered in Turkey last week.

Juventus vs. Galatasaray – Spalletti’s pre-match comments

Football Italia is among the accredited media in Turin tonight. You can follow the build-up and live action as it happens on the live blog.

Andrea Cambiaso and Juan Cabal are suspended, so Spalletti has picked Weston McKennie as a left-back.

“When he plays behind a centre forward, he can act where he prefers, but tonight we have a different need,” Spalletti told Prime Video Italia via TMW.

“They have strong wingers in one-on-one situations, and we have absentees that led us to play him there.

“Feats like those we’d need tonight are built on the quality of the whole team and the attitude as the game develops, not on an individual’s quality,” Spalletti concluded.

Kenan Yildiz is not fully fit, but starts as a left winger, while Gleison Bremer has recovered from a minor muscle injury but initially goes on the bench, making room for Federico Gatti and Lloyd Kelly in central defence.

Juventus have lost four of their last five games across all competitions, and next Sunday they’ll visit Roma in Serie A.