August 7, 2020 was one of those nights that’s hard to categorize — a personal triumph wrapped inside a team collapse, both true at the same time.
Juventus needed a big result against Lyon just to survive. The first leg of this round of 16 tie felt like it happened in a different era at this point – Juve lost 1-0 in France all the way back in February, before anyone knew the season was about to get split in half by a pandemic. By the time the second leg finally happened at an empty Allianz Stadium
in August, the whole shape of the year had changed, but the math hadn’t – Juve needed to win by two clear goals to advance.
It didn’t start well. Memphis Depay opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a penalty, and suddenly Juve needed three goals instead of two. Then Rodrigo Bentancur won a penalty of his own right before halftime, and Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to level things at 1-1.
That penalty wasn’t just about the scoreline. It was Ronaldo’s 36th goal of the season across all competitions, and it pulled him level with Felice Borel’s Juventus single-season scoring record — a mark that had stood since 1933-34, when Borel hit 36 across Serie A and the old Mitropa Cup on his way to a Scudetto.
Ronaldo didn’t wait long to take the record outright. In the 60th minute, he picked up the ball on the edge of the box and hit a left-footed strike from distance that Anthony Lopes got a hand to but couldn’t keep out. 37 goals, a new club record, and — for a few minutes at least — Juve back in front on the night.
That’s where the story splits. On the scoreboard in Turin, it was 2-1 Juventus, and it stayed that way. Depay’s penalty meant the tie finished level at 2-2 with Lyon advancing on away goals. Juve were out in the round of 16 for the second straight year, this time to a Lyon side that wasn’t among the favorites going in.
Borel’s record stood for 86 years. It took a night like this — one goal to tie it, another to break it, and a result that still stung anyway — for it to finally fall.
