Juventus Crush NEC 5-0 in Europa League Opener
NEC’s return to European competition lasted 90 punishing minutes in Turin. By the end of it, Dick Schreuder’s team had been taken apart, 5-0, by a Juventus side that barely needed to leave third gear.
The scoreline told the story. The manner of it hurt even more.
Early reprieve, swift punishment
There was a warning inside three minutes. Federico Gatti thought he had opened the scoring, only for his effort to be ruled out for a foul on stand‑in goalkeeper Nikolas Polster, who started with Gonzalo Crettaz suspended. It felt like a let-off.
It wasn’t. It was a delay.
Nicolás González raced clear soon after, latching onto space behind the NEC back line. Polster charged out, misjudged everything, and completely missed the ball. González didn’t. A simple tap-in, an early 1-0, and NEC were suddenly staring at a long night.
Juventus sensed vulnerability and tightened the grip.
Polster briefly held the line, reacting sharply to keep out a close-range header from Nick Woltemade. But when Kerim Alajbegovic stepped onto a loose ball from distance, there was nothing the keeper could do. The shot tore through the evening, a vicious long-range strike that flew in for 2-0 and underlined the gulf in quality.
Moments later, the damage deepened. Almugera Kabar clipped González in the box, and Woltemade stepped up from the spot. Calm, precise, 3-0. NEC were unravelling.
Injury blows and missed chances
In the middle of Juventus’ surge came another setback. Clement Bischoff pulled up with a hamstring problem and had to come off, with Dennis Geiger thrown into the chaos earlier than planned. It summed up NEC’s night: every turn brought another problem.
Yet, to their credit, Schreuder’s side did not completely fold before the break.
They finally pushed Juventus back and carved out a handful of chances. Noé Lebreton forced Kamil Grabara into action, Kabar also saw an effort beaten away, and Bryan Linssen lashed a shot over when well placed. They were half-chances, but they were something. On a night like this, something was all NEC had.
Juventus, though, never looked rattled. They simply waited.
Second half control, late collapse
After half-time, the tempo dropped. Juventus managed the game, the ball, and the clock. NEC had more of it but rarely looked like tearing the contest open.
Their only real threat came from distance, Geiger trying his luck from range as NEC searched for a moment to cling to. It never arrived.
Instead, the final quarter of an hour brought another harsh lesson.
Zeki Çelik struck first, arriving in the box to meet a cut-back from Randal Kolo Muani and drilling in for 4-0. NEC’s defence, already stretched, simply couldn’t reset quickly enough.
Then came the final twist of the knife. Kolo Muani burst through on goal, timed his run, rounded the advancing Polster and rolled the ball in for 5-0. Clinical, cold, and utterly decisive.
By the final whistle, NEC’s bright names – Tjaronn Chery, Dusan Tadic, Linssen – were reduced to footnotes on a night owned entirely by Juventus. Teun Koopmeiners, starting on the bench for the hosts, barely needed to be involved in a game that was long decided.
For Schreuder and NEC, this was a brutal reintroduction to Europa League reality: the margin for error is tiny, and the punishment for mistakes can be merciless. The question now is simple and stark – how quickly can they recover from a night like this?
