Serie A giants Juventus demonstrated their resilience with a staggering comeback to share the spoils with Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday in their UEFA Champions League 2025/26 opener.
After a goalless first half, the sides split the points on offer as the heavyweights netted four goals each with Dusan Vlahovic’s brace key in Juventus pulling off a 4-4 draw after going two-goals down.
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Lloyd Kelly secured a point for Juve in the final moments of a thrilling match by heading home a precise cross from Vlahovic, sparking wild celebrations in the stands in Turin.
While Kelly was the hero, it was substitute Vlahovic who played a crucial
role, proving his critics wrong once again with a brace, including a goal in the fourth minute of added time that brought Juve back into the game.
This was the third time this season that Vlahovic, who was expected to leave in the summer, has made a decisive impact from the bench, bringing his total goal tally in all competitions to four.
“It’s not been an easy time for me. There were a lot of things said and many articles written that were 99 percent untrue, and that affects you,” Vlahovic told Sky. “But I found strength from it. Every day you have to show something and have that hunger. That’s how I am; I’m never really satisfied.”
Igor Tudor’s team seemed defeated when Ramy Bensebaini scored from the penalty spot in the 86th minute to give Dortmund a 4-2 lead.
But just as they did over the weekend when Juve scored late to beat fierce rivals Inter Milan, Kelly stepped up to earn Juve an unexpected draw.
“If we keep conceding goals like we did tonight, we’ll never see the end,” said Tudor. “After the last few days, I think I need a little rest.”
Englishman Kelly’s equaliser was the final act of a match that came to life in the second half after a lacklustre opening period.
Not much had happened until Karim Adeyemi struck Dortmund’s opening goal from Serhou Guirassy’s quick pass, with Maximilian Beier grazing the post moments before the first major action.
Adeyemi’s goal changed the game entirely, with Guirassy somehow failing to score from six yards out moments later after forcing his way in front of Juve goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.
That woke Juve up, with Teun Koopmeiners blasting over after a neat exchange of passes with Lois Openda. In the 63rd minute, Kenan Yildiz levelled the scores with a brilliant curling strike reminiscent of Italian icon Alessandro Del Piero.
The cheers from that goal had barely subsided when, seconds later, Felix Nmecha was given too much space to smash Dortmund back into the lead from just outside the penalty area.
Vlahovic equalised for Juve a second time in the 68th minute, confidently finishing from Yildiz’s pass, before Yan Couto’s powerful low drive slipped through the fingers of Di Gregorio in the 75th minute.
When Guirassy’s shot hit Kelly’s arm as the defender slid to block, Bensebaini struck what seemed to be the decisive goal.
However, Juve kept pushing and, inspired by Vlahovic, the Serie A team managed to scrape a result from seemingly nowhere.
