Europa League: Juventus crush NEC 5-0 with five different scorers

Juventus kicked off their Europa League campaign with a commanding 5-0 victory over NEC Nijmegen on Thursday, September 17, at the Allianz Stadium in Turin. Five different players found the net for the Bianconeri during this opening match of the league phase.

Nico González opened the scoring in the 9th minute, capitalizing on a missed clearance by Dutch goalkeeper Nikolas Polster. Kerim Alajbegović doubled the lead in the 24th minute, before Nick Woltemade converted a penalty in the 35th minute to make it 3-0 at halftime.

Juventus added two more goals in the second half. Zeki Çelik scored the fourth in the 75th minute with an assist from Randal Kolo Muani, and the French forward capped off the victory in the 82nd minute after outpacing the defense and rounding the goalkeeper.

The Turin club thus begins the league phase with three points and a goal difference of +5. La Gazzetta dello Sport notes that this marks the seventh time Juventus has won their first match of a major European campaign by at least five goals.

Luciano Spalletti expressed his satisfaction with the victory and his team’s performance after the match. Juventus will travel to Vigo to face Celta on October 15 in their second league phase match.