Considering how Juventus’ weekend trip to Sassuolo went, it was hard to say what kind of state Luciano Spalletti’s squad was going to show in come their Europa League opener on Thursday night. Would it just be an extension of what we saw just a few days earlier? Or would there be the chance to start anew in some ways and trying to start the European campaign on a positive note against an opponent that has had their own host of struggles to begin the new campaign.
Well, if you were hoping it was Door
No. 2, then you got quite the reward.
Juventus scored early, then ended up scoring often and they began their Europa League campaign with a 5-0 victory over Dutch side NEC Nijmegen at the Juventus Stadium. All three first-half goals were scored by players who, the last time Juventus played a European game, were on other teams’ rosters. That same theme carried right into the second half as Juve pulled away even further, allowing there to be the kind of scoreline we’ve rarely seen from this club in a European competition — yes, even the second-tier one that they are currently in — over these past few years, if not much longer than that.
Yet, here we are, after the first 90 minutes of Europa League football this season, and we can say this: Juventus are top of the table.
Oh, you don’t believe me? Let’s bring the receipts!
On top of the table after the first matchday — just as we all dreamed, right?
OK, so that is tongue-in-cheek in every sense of the expression. Juventus played well on Thursday. That is something that needs to be said because it’s something we certainly couldn’t say when we last saw them play. But it also must be said that NEC were bad — they were really bad. The first goal was comical goalkeeping that gift-wrapped Nico González an easy opener. The penalty that led to Nick Woltemade’s first goal as a Juve player was pretty clear cut if there ever was one. It was, on the whole, a pretty rough showing from a NEC side that was coming off a brutal loss domestically and is sitting mid-table in the Eredivisie.
So, this is the kind of performance that you hoped you could see from Juventus after Sunday’s loss to Sassuolo.
Whether we actually got it was the complete wild card as things got going.
But then the masked man known as Kamil Grabara sent a booming long ball toward González, NEC’s goalkeeper came rushing well out of his penalty area, completely missed on the clearance and away we go. It’s 1 big gift of a lead, but it’s a lead nonetheless. And considering what we saw from Juventus this past weekend, seeing them actually lead — and do so within 10 minutes — was a nice change. As was the concept of them adding onto the lead through a beautiful strike from Kerim Alajbegović and then Woltemade’s PK to conclude a first-half goal haul we haven’t seen from Juventus so far this season.
Nice to see? Absolutely.
Also unexpected? You better believe it.
Fact is, I didn’t know what Juventus we would see in this game. As much as NEC are not very good, it’s not like Juventus have looked great this season, especially the last time we watched them. We know what this team — especially in recent years — does against inferior competition, and that was the fear yet again because, as a wise man once said, these things happen in football.
The good thing is that they didn’t play down to their competition. It wasn’t commanding in terms of possession — especially as they built their first-half lead. It was very much more direct rather than tons of possession. That proved to be a pretty good way to go about things as Spalletti made a host of changes in his starting lineup for the first European fixture of the 2026-27 season.
We know that NEC will not be the same kind of challenge that awaits Juventus this weekend on the same field in Turin when Maurizio Sarri and Atalanta come to town. NEC were in Pot 4 of the Europa League draw and very much looked like it on Thursday night. Just consider me content that Juventus weren’t looking like a team from Pot 4 as well.
NEC weren’t good. Juventus made them pay. And now we’re off and running in the Europa League.
It’s one game, but it’s the kind of boost to morale that this squad desperately needed coming off a weekend when they completely self-destructed at the back time and time again as they lost to Sassuolo. Now we wait a couple of days before seeing just how much that boost actually pays off before we head into a three-week international break.
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS
- Ahhhhh big Europa League nights at the Juventus Stadium! Just what we’ve all been wanting this season!
- What … did I forget the sarcasm text? I guess I did …
- Say what you want about NEC and the quality of that team, but this Juventus team certainly missed the hustle, bustle and everything in between that Weston McKennie brings to the table.
- McKennie and Nico González both running around like mad men? That sure sounds like a much-needed jolt during a very precarious time early in this new season.
- That long ball from Grabara to Nico? That man absolutely launched that ball with his foot. Made it look pretty easy, too. Nice distribution, Kamil.
- Also, a piece of Grabara’s game that I didn’t totally realize until the photos started rolling in: the ability to match the color of his mask to the rest of his goalkeeper kit. That’s quality fashion sense for your debut as a Juventus player, folks. See for yourself …
- Most importantly, Grabara was a safe pair of hands in his first game with his new club. Who knows how the goalkeeper rotation goes down once we come back from the international break, but things are looking quite a bit more stable as compared to last season so far. That was the hope, and with a pair of season-long loan deals it’s been pretty solid through the first five games with Grabara and Guglielmo Vicario in goal.
- Kerim is fun, man. That goal was Exhibit A as to why Juventus signed him. (And there are lots of reasons as to why Juventus signed him.) Hopefully this is the first of many goals in bianconero, young man.
- Also, Kerim? You made me chuckle when you started chiriping at somebody in Tjaronn Chery who is more than twice your age. Be nice to your elders, Kerim. We don’t need you getting into any trouble in your teens.
- Woltemade does some things well, but for somebody who is 6-foot-6 you would really hope that he did certain things much better than he actually does, or at least did in this game. For the most part, though,
- Both teams finished with 11 shots.
- Juventus had 4.14 xG on those 11 shots. That’s good.
- NEC had 0.76 xG on their 11 shots. Little different.
- Yes, there is the caveat in all of this in that Juventus had two cracks at a wide open goal as well as a penalty kick, so there’s some very xG-friendly attempts in there. So let’s just get that on the record right now.
- Another assist and a goal (!!) for Randal Kolo Muani. If there ever was a guy who needed a goal, it’s Kolo Muani. I don’t care if it’s a tap-in from 2 yards out or a 30-yard belter, it’s just nice to see him score a goal so folks won’t talk about how he hasn’t scored every single time his name is mentioned.
- Zeki Çelik is good. I’m happy he’s a Juventus player.
- Pape Sarr attempted 52 passes. He completed all but one of them. He had a solid if not unspectacular first start as a Juventus player. Considering Juventus’ midfield these days, that feels like a slight improvement.
- Another good game from Douglas Luiz. Bet you didn’t expect to be saying that again, huh?
- Federico Gatti’s hair just looks so lovely these days.
- Gatti was described as somebody who is the combination of “(Giorgio) Chiellini with Leonardo Bonucci’s feet,” and I gotta say that’s the first time I’ve ever heard him classified in that kind of fashion.
- If NEC were in Serie A, where would they be? Are they maybe, like, bottom third of the table? Battling relegation? In the relegation zone entirely? I need comps and I need them now!
- There will surely be a decent portion of overreaction in the Italian press because that’s what they do. I think winning this game was important so that you can — even momentarily — stop the spiraling and maybe cool some of the dooms day talk. But the more important fixtures both domestically and in this Europa League league phase still remain both this weekend and right on the other side of the international break.
- So, what I’m trying to say is this: We’ll see. A 5-0 win over a MEH opponent is good, but it’s not the kind of thing we can point to as this team being back and the bus is rolling again. At least not yet — and not for a few weeks at minimum. Let’s just not go down that road just yet.
- Juventus actually got a 5-0 win … IN THIS ECONOMY?!?!?! Consider me surprised!
- In conclusion, PLAY NEC(K)!
