Juventus Dismantles NEC 5-0 in Europa League Opener

NEC’s return to European football began with a cold reality check in Turin, as Dick Schreuder’s side were swept aside 5-0 by a clinical Juventus on Thursday night.

This was not a slow-burning lesson. It was brutal from the outset.

Early reprieve, then a gift

Juventus thought they had struck inside three minutes. Federico Gatti bundled the ball in, only for the referee to rule it out for a foul on stand‑in goalkeeper Nikolas Polster, starting in place of the suspended Gonzalo Crettaz. For a brief moment, NEC could breathe.

That moment vanished quickly.

Nicolás González burst in behind, Polster charged out and completely misjudged the situation, coming nowhere near the ball. González walked it in for 1-0, a gift at this level and the worst possible way for NEC to settle into the game.

From there, Juventus simply tightened the grip.

Long-range hammer blow and a penalty

Polster briefly redeemed himself with a sharp save from a Nick Woltemade header, but the pressure kept building. When the second goal arrived, it came with venom.

Kerim Alajbegovic stepped onto a loose ball from distance and unleashed a thunderous strike that flew past Polster for 2-0. No keeper was stopping that. NEC were rocked, and the scoreboard already felt heavy.

In the middle of that spell, Schreuder suffered another setback. Clement Bischoff pulled up with a hamstring problem and had to come off, with Dennis Geiger thrown into the fray earlier than planned.

The damage worsened from the spot. Almugera Kabar clipped González in the box, and Woltemade calmly rolled in the resulting penalty for 3-0. Half an hour gone, tie all but dead.

Flickers of resistance

To their credit, NEC did not fold completely 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 one over the bar when well placed. Tjaronn Chery and Dusan Tadic tried to knit attacks together, but the end product never matched the approach play.

Juventus, already three goals to the good, were happy to absorb and pick their moments.

Second half drifts, then the late punishment

The tempo dropped after half-time. Juventus managed the game with icy composure, content to knock the ball around and wait. NEC saw more of it, but rarely carried real threat.

Geiger, one of the few bright sparks for the visitors, stepped up with a long-range effort that at least asked a question of Grabara. It was speculative, but it was something. For a stretch, that was all NEC could muster.

Just as the game seemed destined to drift to a quiet conclusion, Juventus twisted the knife.

Randal Kolo Muani, introduced to stretch a tiring defence, did exactly that. He drove into the area and cut the ball back for Zeki Çelik, who arrived with perfect timing to drill home for 4-0.

Moments later, Kolo Muani claimed one of his own. Slipped through on goal, he rounded the advancing Polster with ease and tapped in the fifth. The scoreline now matched the gulf in ruthlessness.

NEC had started the night with familiar names and genuine optimism. They left Turin with a bruising reminder of what Europa League nights can look like against this calibre of opponent – and with immediate questions about how quickly they can recover before the group tightens around them.