The wild card up Luciano Spalletti’s sleeve turned out to be the guy who changed things for Juventus’ favor in their home opener on Saturday night.
On a night in which the second half was full of potential redemption arcs being started, it was Nico Gonzalez’s goal less than five minutes after coming on that proved to be the game-winner in Juventus’ 2-0 victory over Parma at the Allianz Stadium as the Bianconeri begin this lengthy stretch of games with Kenan Yildiz out injured. Yes, the same Gonzalez who
has looked to be a virtual lock to be on his way out at some point this summer, only to still be on the roster with just a few short days to go before the transfer window closes because Juve’s asking price has not been met yet. We still don’t know if Gonzalez, who spent last season on loan at Atlético Madrid because he was very much out of the project, will even be on Juventus’ roster come a few days from now or if he will end up staying around.
But it was Spalletti who unleashed him against Parma — and man, that fireball of an Argentinian sure did deliver.
And the crazy thing is, he wasn’t the only one of the “flops” from The Cristiano Giuntoli (Failed) Rebuild of 2024 or just somebody who arrived (back) at Juventus with a very low stock to make a positive influence in this game and help Juventus secure a second win in as many fixtures to begin the 2026-27 season.
Hell, Teun Koopmeiners, another player who may or may not be a Juve player in a few days, scored the goal to put Parma fully away once and for all just a few short seconds after he came on the field to replace an injured Andrea Cambiaso. (Initial reports say it’s a sprained ankle for Cambiaso, by the way.) There’s Douglas Luiz covering the most ground out of anybody and showing more signs of life after a season in which not one but two Premier League clubs didn’t want to keep him around. Then there’s Guglielmo Vicario recording a second straight shutout — although this one is in full since he didn’t have to come off with a cramp — and making two massive second-half saves in quick succession to kept said shutout intact.
All of this was predictable, right?
No, not really — and especially when you see the first-half performance that Juve had.
But there was Nico ready to enter the field, bring his chaotic energy and give this team the much-needed jolt that we were hoping for. You could see things improving before he came on, but once he stepped onto the field in the 57th minute, it was like he was determined to turn this game on its head. Maybe this was a way for him to show that Atlético Madrid needs to come get him before the summer transfer window closes. Or maybe this was him showing us all that he can be a useful piece to the puzzle that Spalletti said he could be when speaking during Friday’s pre-match press conference.
And let’s face it, with Yildiz out for the next few months, somebody will need to try and pick up the slack in attack and try to get this thing going either off the bench or from the opening whistle.
We don’t know who that will be just yet, even though we saw a second straight game to open the new season where Juventus were very Francisco Conceição-heavy in terms of where they went when they tried to generate some things in the final third. But on this night it was Gonzalez providing the much-needed spark.
At this point, we’ll take it, right? If we get a couple of surprises and some unexpected contributions, that could well go a long way in Juventus actually winning some games that they didn’t these past few years.
You know, in the kind of way that Giuntoli and Thiago Motta hoped for when they brought all these guys in during the summer of 2024. So let’s keep rooting for the redemption arcs — they worked pretty well on Saturday.
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS
- NICO GONZALEZ?!?!?!?!
- TEUN KOOPMEINERS?!?!?!?!?!
- GUGLIELMO VICARIO?!?!?!?!?!
- DOUGLAS LUIZ?!?!?!?!
- JONATHAN … OK, can’t push it that far. Not too much redemption available, I guess.
- To be fair, Jonathan David did a ton of the dirty work and ran a whole hell of a lot against Parma. Problem is, when you’re coming off the kind of debut season he had and play the position he does, you’re not going to always get away with just the line of “he does a whole lot of running.” That will only go so far, right?
- So what does that mean for Randal Kolo Muani right now? He played another full 90, got into some good positions but did some things that make you go “HUH????” either with the ball at his feel on the counterattack — seriously, Randy, pass it to Pierre — or in front of goal when it comes to finishing a big chance.
- I mean, come on, this is just a top-class save from Vicario …
- And you know what? That’s a save that came after a pretty good save a few seconds earlier. The guy has done something that Michele Di Gregorio wasn’t able to — he not only has broken the First Shot On Goal Curse in his first two games with Juventus, but he’s also recorded two shutouts right off the bat. If this is the start of our Vic redemption tour, then sign me up.
- Although, I couldn’t help but think for a second that the last time we thought Juve might have a goalkeeper competition, it basically resulted in Tek Szczesny being the starter for half a decade and Mattia Perin never getting an extended chance for a rebuttal. Who knows if that will be the same story for Vicario and Kamil Grabara, but the former has certainly laid down an early argument as to why his move to Turin was the right one for both him and Juventus.
- I still can’t believe Nico Gonzalez did that. And doing it while wearing No. 31 like every classic playmaker does.
- Imagine Nico continues to ball at Juventus will wearing 31. That thing would be a collector’s item some day.
- Koop goal? Is this suddenly the year 2023 and he’s playing for Atalanta again? Holy smokes!
- This was a solid first start with Juventus for Jhon Lucumí. The early yellow and a few wayward passes were not a good sign to begin with, but he handled that fairly well as the game went on. Obviously it helped that Juve were in possession so much so that he didn’t have to constantly defend like he may have to next weekend against AC Milan, but that was a good first step. And it was good to get the debut out of the way knowing what’s next up on the schedule.
- I can’t wait to hear all of the overreactions to Kerim Alajbegović‘s first 30-plus minutes for Juventus. Is he a bust already? Did Juve make a mistake signing him? Let’s just chill — he’s still 18 years old and adjusting to life at a new club and a new country.
- If anything, listen to how much the crowd got into things once he stepped onto the field. That was a lot like when Yildiz was breaking into the first team and the simple notion of him being on the ball had plenty of anticipation building in the stadium. Kerim will be fine, folks.
- Although, Kerim … don’t walk that fine line when attempting tackles in the box again, please — especially with a 1-0 lead. That was a little too close for comfort.
- Zeki Celik — what a man, what a signing, what a great decision by Spalletti to have him be Juventus’ new starter at left back. Just the calm sense of security he now brings to the table is such a nice change of pace from the impending doom that Cambiaso brought on the defensive side of things. You had to believe Spalletti had something in store for him considering Pierre Kalulu has the right back spot on lock, and now we’re seeing why they were able to lure him away from a potential contract extension with Roma.
- I like when Juventus win.
- I like when Juventus don’t allow goals.
- It’s almost like those two things may be connected.
- The stats say Manuel Locatelli had a pretty good game. I’m pretty sure my eyes said otherwise. He just looked a little too slow when it came to both his own movement and moving the ball. It can be better. At least I hope it can.
- Bremer good.
- Kalulu good.
- That right side of the Juve defense looks very solid to start the new season.
- Two wins out of two to begin the new season. A big one next weekend. Am I confident about how things will go next weekend when Milan come to Turin? No, not really considering that is just my current state of thinking when it comes to Juve’s performance level. But hey, winning two straight and hopefully building a little confidence is a better option than most of our worst fears.
