Most Juventus fans didn\u2019t think Dusan Vlahovic to be on the team at this point in the year. He was supposed to have left in the summer as his contract wound down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Most Juve fans were praying<\/em> that Lloyd Kelly wouldn\u2019t be on the team at this point in the year. His horrible half-year stint in Turin after being acquired in January\u2014especially considering how Dean Huijsen\u2019s career exploded at the same time\u2014had become a symbol of the mistakes made Cristiano Giuntoli during the ill-fated 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And yet, here they are, looming as heroes after Juve played their second instant classic in four days. Vlahovic was magnificent off the bench, scoring twice and assisting the last-second equalizer in the wild 4-4 draw with Borussia Dortmund at the J Stadium. That beneficiary of that assist was Kelly, whose diving header salvaged a point with his second goal in two games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n To be clear, there was definitely a lot of ugly for Juve on the night. After a stellar display in the first half that saw Dortmund fail to put a shot on target, the defense crumbled in the second. They continued to allow far too many uncontested long-range shots, which again bit them in the rear on two of Dortmund\u2019s four goals. It didn\u2019t help that Michele Di Gregorio had a shocking night in goal, making multiple uncharacteristic mistakes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But if there\u2019s one major takeaway to this match, it\u2019s that the Bianconeri have turned the corner in terms of mentality. Plunk this game into the schedule in any season from 2021-22 through to last year, and BVB\u2019s unexpected opening goal would likely have seen the team check out mentally. Rather than shrinking in front of adversity, they\u2019re responding to it with the kind of Fino alla Fine spirit that we as Juventini expect from those who wear this shirt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That\u2019s a testament to Igor Tudor. Now, of course, his job is to ensure it doesn\u2019t come to that point in the first place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tudor was still missing Fabio Miretti and Arkadiusz Milik, but Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o and Edon Zhegrova were fit enough to make the bench. The Croatian put forward his usual 3-4-2-1 setup. Di Gregorio was fronted by Pierre Kalulu, Bremer, and Kelly. Andrea Cambiaso made his first club appearance since his red card in the Serie A opener, starting on the left wing opposite Weston McKennie. Teun Koopmeiners joined Kh\u00e9phren Thuram in midfield. Kenan Yildiz and Jonathan David played in the hole, while Lo\u00efs Openda got his first Juventus start.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tudor was opposed by his former national team teammate Niko Kovac. He had a much longer injured list, headlined by former Juve midfielder Emre Can. Fabio Silva, Niklas S\u00fcle, Nico Schlotterbeck, Aaron Anselmino, and Julien Duranville. Kovac countered his countryman with his own 3-4-2-1. Gregor Kobel started in goal, with Ramy Bensebaini, Waldemar Anton, and Julian Ryerson arrayed in front of him. Yan Couto and Daniel Svensson manned the wing-back spots, flanking the double pivot of Marcel Sabitzer and Felix Nmecha. Long-rumored Juve transfer target Karim Adeyemi teamed with Maximilian Beier to support Serhou Guirassy in attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The first half saw relatively little serious action. Dortmund had significantly more possession early, but it was Juve who were creating the opportunities. Thuram nearly lit things up early when he was afforded the space to load up and fire from distance in the fourth minute. His shot was bending inside and would have either smacked the post or snuck in just inside it, but Kobel pushed it around the post on the dive to be certain it was neither. Openda nearly opened his Juve account with an audacious flick at the near post from a corner, but only hit the side netting. Openda forced another save out of Kobel late in the period when his cross aimed at David was sent right back to him, prompting him to send his second effort on goal instead. The Swiss keeper stopped the tightly-angled drive at the bottom corner of the near post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The early moments of the second half looked like it was going to be an identical rhythm, but six minutes into the period Dortmund had their first true chance of the night. Beier chased after a long ball and tipped it around an onrushing Di Gregorio from a tight angle, bonking the ball off the post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Less than 60 seconds later they had the lead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Adeyemi was the one who converted, taking a quick pass from Guirassy, clearing his shooting lange with one touch and firing it across the grain past Di Gregorio, who was slow to react. Perhaps he hadn\u2019t seen it in time, perhaps it was just a bad reaction, but the ball flew across him and into the net, opening the scoring deeply against the run of play.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Giurassy nearly doubled the lead moments later when Adeyemi fired ball through the middle of a crowd to set him up point-blank, but Di Gregorio this time made a fine reaction save to keep the deficit at one. Beier was set up almost 60 seconds later but fired wide, leaving Juve wobbling precariously in a game they looked like they had been in control of only five minutes before.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A minute later it seemed certain Juve would equalize, but Koopmeiners was put into a great spot by Openda only to completely shank his attempt at the top far corner when the goal was practically inviting him to score. The score was indeed even a few minutes later when Yildiz drifted inside and unleashed a ballooning curler of a strike from above the left channel that flew into the top far corner. It was a carbon copy of some of Alessandro Del Piero\u2019s best work, and gave the stadium a new reason to roar after the sobering blow of the opener.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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