Most of us expected at least one of Nico Gonzalez and Teun Koopmeiners to have already been sold by this time in the season. Certainly none of us thought that Juventus would be thanking the two for being the difference in a game that actually mattered in the standings, let alone stepping up to fill a void left by an injured Kenan Yildiz.
It was not only them, but Douglas Luiz as well who formed an important triad for the Bianconeri as they beat Parma 2-0 in the 2026-27 home opener. But the three players,
until now symbols of Cristiano Giuntoli’s failed year in 2024-25, were indeed the biggest contributors to Juve’s second win in a row. González injected an impetus that the team lacked in the game’s first 57 minutes, forcing a glorious save from Edoardo Corvi before scoring the opener a few minutes later. Luiz was a consistent problem for Parma out of he midfield all day long, and Koopmeiners sealed things in the 88th minute with his first Serie A goal in 16 months off an attack that started with González pressing the ball off the 19-year-old Abdou-Salam Konate.
It was by no means the most comprehensive of wins, but it was enough to send them into next week’s test against AC Milan with two wins in two.
Who played the best ahead for the Old Lady in front of the home fans? Let’s take a closer look.
GUGLIELMO VICARIO – 7. Made a fantastic save just after González gave Juve the lead that prevented an instant Parma response. Credit is due for being ready for both of the saves he made in that sequence after not facing a shot on target the entire game up to that point.
PIERRE KALULU – 6.5. Had a pair of key passes and put a couple of good crosses in that were ultimately defended away. Strong as usual.
BREMER – 7. Made two tackles, two interceptions, and four clearances over the course of the game and never let any of Parma’s attackers get any foothold whatsoever. Another very strong performance compared to what we saw after his return last year.
JHON LUCUMÍ – 6. Made a pair of key passes and very nearly scored on his Juventus debut. Looked good and will only get better with time and chemistry.
ZEKI ÇELIK – 6.5. Led the team with five tackles and co-led with three interceptions. Defensive solidity from the left side like we haven’t seen in a while.
MANUEL LOCATELLI – 6. The only reason he gets up to a passing grade is the assist he notched at the end. Despite the fact that that was his fourth key pass on the game, which tied for the team lead, but he looked really slow today and saw Parma beat him with downfield balls more than once. It was uncharacteristic.
DOUGLAS LUIZ – 6. Part of a couple of good passing moves and led the team with six shot attempts, two of which were on target. He looked a lot more threatening than he ever did in the 2024-25 season.
FRANCISCO CONCEIÇÃO – 6.5. Co-led the team with four key passes, some of which were wasted by the man on the other end. Attempted a whopping 11 crosses and was desperately unlucky to crash a first-half shot off the post.
JONATHAN DAVID – 5. Did a whole lot of running but didn’t create any end product at all. He did make three tackles, but his two shot attempts were both badly off target, and he didn’t look like he was making connections with any of his teammates.
JÉRÉMIE BOGA – 6. Completed 95.8 percent of his passes and was a menace on the left side in place of Yildiz.
RANDAL KOLO MUANI – 5.5. Again got himself into the right spots but wasn’t able to push through the final product. He came close in the late stages of the second half when Corvi made himself big and made a kick save at point-blank range. Made a nice exchange with Locatelli in the run-up to the second goal.
SUBS
NICO GONZÁLEZ – 8. A fantastic half hour for a man no one expected to be playing in a Juventus shirt at all this year. He injected some badly-needed quality playing behind Kolo Muani and wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger on shots, unlike a couple of players in the first half. His first shot was a fabulous volley that would’ve made highlight reels all over the world, with Corvi making an equally remarkable save to deny him. His goal followed an equally remarkable long-range shot that crashed against the post and went right back to him. His excellent ball to Kolo Muani nearly sealed the game, and Koopmeiners’ score was precipitated by González’s pressure. Oh, and he tied for the team lead in interceptions, too. He’s gone from afterthought to a possible important factor in 33 minutes.
KERIM ALAJBEGOVIC – 5.5. Didn’t create much end product but showed some good instincts for an 18-year-old. Showed a good foundation.
LLOYD KELLY – 6. Kept things tight in the back after replacing Lucumí.
ANDREA CAMBIASO – NR. Operating on the right wing, he made a tackle but otherwise didn’t have the chance to make too much impression before leaving the pitch with a sprained ankle.
TEUN KOOPMEINERS – NR. Likely didn’t expect to be on given the sub patterns, but made a beautiful finish just moments after coming on. Could this make him a little more confident?
MANAGER ANALYSIS
The injury issues facing Luciano Spalletti required some experimentation, and the manager’s choices were a mixed bag. Using Jonathan David as a trequartista/seconda punta was an interesting one to take—I was expecting Alajbegovic there given Spalletti’s comments about where he would play in the offseason. David wasn’t able to do much of anything, which may have sealed his departure in the coming days as the transfer deadline approaches.
What was much stronger was his substitution choices, chief among them being his timing, which I thought was deficient last week but was much better on Saturday. I frankly would’ve removed David at halftime, but Juve was starting to push Parma harder in the early phases of the second half, and Spalletti didn’t waste time adding weight to that push off the bench. González was another surprising feature but goodness, what a move it turned out to be. When Spalletti gets his timing right on substitutions he can have a profound effect on the match, and this game certainly fell into that category.
Also noteworthy was the second straight start given to Zeki Çelik on the left flank. He’s made that side feel so much more secure defensively than any time Cambiaso was there, even when he was at his peak a few years ago. He wasn’t as big a participant in the attack today—mostly because things were heavily weighted to the right—but his defense simply made things simpler for the rest of the back four and for Vicario, often cutting off or curtailing attempts by Parma to break out on that side. Cambiaso looks to be facing some time out after his ankle injury, but Çelik should be the automatic starter at left-back regardless.
LOOKING AHEAD
Juve will take their first major test of the year on Sunday when AC Milan visit the Allianz in prime time. Then Juve go back on the road for a match with Sassuolo before starting their Europa League campaign with a home match against NEC Nijmegen.
