On Tuesday, Juventus made their Champions League comeback, defeating PSV 3-1 thanks to two goals in the first half from Kenan Yildiz and Weston McKennie. This was an easy win for the Bianconeri, as they emerged victorious in the opening of their Champions League campaign at Allianz Stadium.
Juventus were participating in their first match in Europe’s top club competition since 2022-2023, when they were eliminated humiliatingly in the group stage and were unable to advance to the following season.
In the 21st minute, Thiago Motta’s team took the lead brilliantly through a powerful curling effort from Kenan Yildiz that went in off the post. With his goal, the 19-year-old has surpassed Juventus great Alessandro del Piero to become the team’s youngest goalscorer in the top European competition.
Encouraged by Yildiz’s goal, Juventus pressed forward, and, six minutes later, former Leeds midfielder Weston McKennie added a second goal. The US international scored his first goal from seven yards out, slotting past PSV goalkeeper Joel Drommel.
Nicolas Gonzalez was found by Dusan Vlahovic with a lovely pass across the box six minutes into the second half. After taking a single touch to position himself, the Argentine fired past Drommel to score his first goal, making it 3-0.
Johan Bakayoko found Ismael Saibari, who scored a consolation goal for the Dutch Eredivisie champions with the final kick of the match.
Juventus also kept up their record of never losing their first Champions League match after hiring a new coach (seven victories, three draws)—the best record of any team in the competition with ten or more managers.
It was an outstanding start to Thiago Motta’s UCL career as manager of Juventus. In their subsequent group-stage encounter against RB Leipzig in two weeks, the Italian powerhouses will aim to improve on this performance.
As a consequence of the outcome, Juventus now hold a commanding lead in their group, and PSV must quickly turn things around if they want to qualify. Both teams are conscious that the European campaign this season still has a long way to go.
Juventus will play RB Leipzig in Germany, and PSV will host Sporting Lisbon at Philips Stadion.
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