Juventus Overwhelms NEC 5-0 in Europa League Clash
NEC’s return to European competition lasted 90 bruising minutes in Turin, and not a second more. Dick Schreuder’s side were taken apart 5-0 by a Juventus team that barely needed to hit top gear, yet still exposed every weakness on display.
This was a lesson. A harsh one.
Early reprieve, then a gift
There was a brief illusion of hope. In the third minute, 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, deputising with Gonzalo Crettaz suspended. NEC escaped. For a moment.
The warning went unheeded.
Soon after, Nicolás González sliced through the visitors’ back line. Polster charged out, misjudged everything, and completely missed the ball. González did not. He rolled in the simplest of finishes for 1-0, and the tone of the night was set.
Tjaronn Chery, Dusan Tadic and Bryan Linssen had all been trusted from the start, experienced heads meant to steady NEC on a big European stage. Instead, they spent most of the evening chasing shadows in black and white.
Juventus tighten the grip
Once in front, Juventus smelled vulnerability and went after it.
Polster produced a sharp stop to deny Nick Woltemade’s header, but he could only watch when Kerim Alajbegovic stepped onto the ball from distance and ripped a stunning strike into the net for 2-0. Power, precision, no chance for the keeper.
The pressure kept building. Almugera Kabar then clipped González in the box, and Woltemade calmly converted from the spot for 3-0. Clinical. Inevitable.
In the middle of that onslaught, NEC suffered another blow. Clement Bischoff pulled up with a hamstring problem and had to come off, Dennis Geiger taking his place. The change did little to alter the flow; it only added to the sense of a night unravelling.
Flickers of resistance
To their credit, NEC did not fold completely before the interval.
Noé Lebreton forced Kamil Grabara into action, Kabar also tested the Juventus goalkeeper, and Linssen lashed a chance over the bar. They were half-chances, glimpses rather than genuine momentum, but at least they asked a question or two.
Juventus, though, never looked rattled. They simply absorbed the moments, reset, and waited.
Second half control, late punishment
After the break, the game drifted. Juventus controlled the tempo, managed the space, and allowed the clock to work in their favour. NEC saw more of the ball but carried little threat, aside from a long-range effort from Geiger that briefly stirred the away end.
The Italian side had done the damage early. Now they just toyed with the margins.
Then, as legs tired and gaps widened, the scoreline turned ugly.
Zeki Çelik arrived in the box to meet a cut-back from Randal Kolo Muani and swept in the fourth, a simple finish at the end of another incisive move. NEC’s defence, stretched and weary, could only watch.
Moments later, Kolo Muani helped himself. Released through the middle, he surged clear, rounded the advancing Polster and rolled in Juventus’ fifth. No drama, no fuss. Just a ruthless striker finishing off a ruthless team performance.
The whistle came as a relief for NEC. The scoreboard did not soften the reality: a 5-0 defeat, a bruising start, and a stark reminder of the level required in the Europa League.
The campaign has only just begun, but after a night like this, NEC already know the size of the climb in front of them.
