Luciano Spalletti believes Juventus' inability to match Cagliari's determination cost them three points in their Serie A clash on Saturday.

Despite firing off 21 shots to Cagliari's three and retaining 78.1% of possession, the Bianconeri lost 1-0 to Luca Mazzitelli's 65th-minute volley.

Indeed, Juve are the first team to lose a Serie A match with at least 78% ball possession since the data has been available (since 2004-05), while it was their second league defeat under Spalletti since his appointment in November.

Juve have now lost five of their 14 away games this season in all competitions, one more than they lost in the entirety of last season (four in 24 away games in 2024-25).

Kenan Yildiz went close to equalising when his deflected shot struck the woodwork for the visitors, who forced Elia Caprile into five saves in the defeat.

Spalletti has urged his side to be more clinical and determined going forward, but he also felt his players must do better to execute their roles.

"Cagliari deserved it, because they fought for every ball, closed up and tried to go on the counter," Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.

"We were unable to be determined enough in preparing those situations. There are games that go like this, we move on.

"The substitutes got swept up in the frantic nature of the game. Zhegrova and Conceicao dropped back to get the ball in midfield rather than stay up there, so they got too far away from the 'hot' areas of the pitch.

"Kalulu and Kelly then started pushing up the flanks, but no, they were defenders and needed to be defending.

"We can complain about that, players need to stay in their roles, but in general we played our game, suffocated every attempt at a counter-attack. It was destined to go like this, there’s no point crying over spilt milk.

"We needed to be more determined and make more of our chances, but also the free kick where they scored was so unnecessary and they used that opportunity. Maybe next time luck will turn our way, but it's nothing unusual."

Juve are now 10 points behind Serie A leaders Inter, who beat Udinese 1-0 on Saturday, while Roma could also move three points clear of the Bianconeri if they beat Torino on Sunday.

Spalletti's side will turn their attention to a Champions League match against Benfica next, before a huge league meeting against Napoli on the weekend.