Juventus Kicks Off Champions League Campaign with 3-1 Win Over PSV Eindhoven

Italian Juventus kicked off their new-form campaign in the 2024-2025 European Champions League with an easy 3-1 first-round win over their Dutch hosts, PSV Eindhoven.

At the Allianz Stadium, goals from Turkish Kenan Yıldız (21) and American Weston McKenney (27) sealed the match six minutes into the first half for Juventus, before Argentine Nicolas Gonzalez added a third in the second half (52), and Moroccan substitute Ismail Saibari scored the Eindhoven goal (90+3).

Juventus returned after an absence lasting 685 days, notably in a 1–2 loss to Paris Saint-Germain, France, on November 2, 2022, in the group stage, with its new coach, Thiago Motta, following a role model.

The Italian clubs continued their dominance against PSV Eindhoven, as the latter are winless in seven away matches in the Champions League (2 draws vs 5 defeats).

Yildiz Breaks Del Piero’s Record

Kenan Yıldız, Italian Juventus player, scored the first goal for Juventus when he ran down the left side of the penalty area and shot a ball into the left clip of PSV Eindhoven’s Dutch goal, becoming the youngest Juventus player to score in a continental competition.

At 19 years and 136 days, Yıldız broke the Juventus player’s record, overtaking star Alessandro Del Piero, who scored against Borussia Dortmund in September 1995 at the age of 20 years and 308 days.

The Turkish winger wore the number “10” Del Piero wore with Juventus, and he scored his goal in the 21st minute of the Italian team’s match against their guests, PSV Eindhoven.

Juventus’ Youngest Lineup

Instead, the Opta Sports Statistics Network revealed that the “Old Lady” team played its youngest starting lineup in Champions League history against PSV Eindhoven, with the players reaching an average age of 25 years and 149 days.

The new season of the Champions League will see a radical change, as participation has expanded from 32 teams to 36, with a single group format where each team will play 8 matches against 8 different teams, 4 at home and the same away.

The top 8 teams in the final position will qualify for the round of 16, while the next 16 teams will advance to the play-off round and the remaining teams will exit the Europa League without qualifying, unlike what happened previously.