Juventus kicked off the 2026/27 Europa League campaign with a 5-0 win over NEC Nijmegen at the Allianz Arena on Thursday, a strong response to their previous 2-3 loss to Sassuolo.
Five different goalscorers were reported to have scored, with three of the goals marking the club’s first ever goals italian football.
Gonzalez, Alabegovic and Walter Mader set the tone before the break
The breakthrough came within nine minutes when Kamil Grabara, making his Juventus debut, sent a long ball forward that was badly misjudged by NEC backup goalkeeper Nikolas Polster. Nico Gonzalez simply rounded him and rolled into an empty net, giving the Pole an assist on his first appearance.
Kerim Alajbegovic doubled the lead in the 24th minute when Weston McKennie drove the ball forward and fired into the top corner from the edge of the area for his first goal since his summer arrival. Almugra Cabal brought down Gonzalez in the penalty area ten minutes later, while Nick Waltermade passed Polster the wrong way from the penalty spot for the Bianconeri’s first goal.
Substitute Randal Kolo Muani needed just four minutes to score, beating Tobias Storm before cutting in to feed Zeki Celik for the fourth goal. The Frenchman then punished another Bolster misjudgment with a shot of his own in the 82nd minute, from Jhon Lucumi in an almost identical manner to Gonzalez’s opener.
NEC improved after the break but never posed a threat
NEC were more competitive than the scoreline suggested, outscoring Juventus 7-5 at half-time and having 67% possession in the opening 15 hours after the restart. Ayodele Thomas twice tested Grabara, beating Federico Gatti’s cross from the left and Dennis Geiger eked out a shot, but Grabara was never seriously troubled and the Juventus defense gave away nothing.
Luciano Spalletti’s stance had been openly debated before kick-off, with sporting director Frederic Massara publicly backing him hours earlier. The result of this magnitude, opening the Europa League stage with a five-goal statement, buys the manager some breathing space, even if it solves nothing but the immediate aftermath of Sassuolo’s setback.
Attention now turns to how Spalletti will manage his squad’s depth across two games, an issue that has been overshadowed by the recent absence of Europa League sides.
