Cagliari 1-0 Juventus: Mazzitelli volley delivers hammer blow to visitors´ title hopes

Luca Mazzitelli’s volley condemned Juventus to their first defeat in 2026 as they lost 1-0 to Cagliari at Unipol Domus on Saturday.

The midfielder’s first-time strike in the 65th minute was enough to separate the two sides, with Luciano Spalletti’s men now 10 points behind Serie A leaders Inter, who beat Udinese earlier in the day.

Juventus thought they were awarded a penalty in the 15th minute when Fabio Miretti was caught by Mazzitelli, but the decision was reversed following a brief VAR review.

It was a largely quiet first half, with Cagliari failing to register a single shot before the break, while Miretti came closest for the visitors as his deflected strike was comfortably stopped by Elia Caprile.

The defining moment then came shortly after the hour mark, with Mazzitelli finding the bottom-right corner after Gianluca Gaetano’s mishit cross from a free-kick landed kindly for the goalscorer.

The Bianconeri huffed and puffed in their search for an equaliser, and they almost succeeded when Kenan Yildiz’s powerful shot deflected off Yerry Mina and onto the left post, but it was not meant to be for Juventus as Cagliari held on for all three points.

FT || Full time.@EASPORTSFC @easportsfcit#CagliariJuve pic.twitter.com/F3DkMdYNWd

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 17, 2026

Data Debrief: Cagliari dig deep

To say it was a hard-fought win for Cagliari would be an understatement. They had just 21.9% of possession, while goalkeeper Caprile registered the most touches (46) and completed the joint-most passes (20, level with Mina) for his side.

It was an incredible defensive display from Mina, who recorded 10 clearances (joint-most with Sebastiano Luperto) and won 100% of his aerial duels (four) as Juventus failed to threaten with their constant crosses.

The Bianconeri produced 1.28 expected goals (xG) from 20 attempts to Cagliari’s 0.11 from three shots, with the latter scoring with their only shot on target.