How Nico Gonzalez & Kenan Yildiz Wowed On UCL Debuts

Juventus have begun brightly beneath new boss Thiago Motta, however there was little doubt that Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League conflict with PSV Eindhoven was going to be a significant focus.

After a vibrant begin to the home marketing campaign noticed the Turin giants beat each Como and Hellas Verona by the identical 3-0 scoreline, Juve have undoubtedly stumbled since, held to 0-0 attracts by AS Roma and Empoli.

Think about that the Bianconeri had missed out on Europe’s elite competitors altogether final time period and crashed out within the group stage in 2022/23, and this primary fixture was all the time going to garner consideration.

New Look Juventus

With virtually two years since their final look within the competitors, it’s a vastly totally different Juve crew to the one which misplaced every of their final three Group Stage video games. Eleven of the squad named by Motta had by no means appeared within the Champions League, with the Coach making his debut on the bench too.

PSV arrived in nice type too, the Dutch facet having gained all 5 of their home video games to start out the season, out-scoring their opponents by 20 objectives to a few alongside the best way. Nonetheless, regardless of good early efforts from Joey Veerman and Guus Til, they’d rapidly discover themselves overwhelmed in Turin.

Juve slowly started to understand management of the sport, however it could be a second of particular person brilliance from Kenan Yildiz that broke the impasse. The Turkey worldwide has been given the no.10 shirt beforehand worn by Alessandro Del Piero, and on Tuesday night time he scored a purpose worthy of the Bianconeri icon.

Kenan Yildiz wows the Turin crowd

Chopping in from the left, Yildiz curled a surprising right-footed effort into the far prime nook, leaving the PSV goalkeeper no likelihood. He wheeled away mimicking the celebration of his idol, and his purpose noticed him break Del Piero’s file because the youngest Juve participant to attain within the Champions League at 19 years and 136 days.

It will be 2-0 simply minutes later as an excellent ball from Nico Gonzalez discovered Weston McKennie in open house simply eight yards out, the US worldwide ending comfortably to mark his first begin of the season.

The half time interval would permit PSV some respite, however the Bianconeri continued the place that they had left off after the break as Teun Koopmeiners and Vlahovic mixed to permit Gonzalez so as to add a 3rd.

With a three-goal lead after simply 52 minutes of motion, Juve had been firmly in management and would handle the rest of the sport, killing off any hope of a comeback even when PSV did finally rating with the final kick of the sport.

Nico Gonzalez shines brightest

There have been no scarcity of wonderful performances for the Italian facet, with Andrea Cambiaso as soon as once more very good at left again, whereas Teun Koopmeiners was a relentless supply of creativity.

Certainly, the Dutch midfielder laid on no fewer than six clear scoring alternatives for his team-mates, together with one which put Vlahovic clear by means of on purpose. But Koopmeiners and maybe even Yildiz may haven’t any argument in opposition to Nico Gonzalez being named Man of the Match right here.

The Argentinian winger confirmed precisely why Juve introduced him to the membership this summer time, his mixture of pace, ability and power leaving PSV defenders chasing shadows as he methodically picked them aside.

A purpose and an help had been simply rewards for a stellar efficiency that noticed him lay on two different high quality scoring alternatives in addition to doing a little good work defensively, significantly at set items.

There may be undoubtedly extra to return from this Juve facet too, with Motta demanding higher focus when his crew lose the ball. “I feel right this moment, throughout many of the recreation, we may do higher when our opponents had possession,” the coach instructed Sky Italia.

“We did nicely at occasions however not throughout the entire recreation. We should elevate the bar and be extra constant”

That will likely be significantly necessary this weekend, when table-topping Napoli go to Juventus Stadium in a recreation that may inform us a lot about the place each groups really stand at this early level of the season.