NEC's Heavy Defeat to Juventus in Europa League Opener

NEC’s return to European football turned into a brutal reality check in Turin. Dick Schreuder’s side were taken apart 5-0 by Juventus on Thursday night, their Europa League campaign barely underway before it was effectively shredded.

Early reprieve, then a gift

There was a warning inside three minutes. Federico Gatti thought he had given Juventus the perfect start, only for his effort to be chalked off for a foul on stand-in goalkeeper Nikolas Polster, who was deputising for the suspended Gonzalo Crettaz.

That let-off should have settled NEC. Instead, it preceded a calamity.

Nicolás González burst in behind the visitors’ back line, Polster rushed out to meet him and completely misjudged the situation. He came, he swung, he missed. González simply rolled the ball into an empty net for 1-0, and NEC were already staring at a long night.

Juventus turn the screw

From there, Juventus tightened their grip.

Polster briefly redeemed himself with a sharp save from Nick Woltemade’s header, but he was helpless when Kerim Alajbegovic stepped up from distance. The midfielder unleashed a thundering strike from range that flew past the NEC keeper for 2-0, a goal that underlined the gulf in quality.

NEC’s problems deepened when Clement Bischoff pulled up with a hamstring issue and had to be replaced by Dennis Geiger. Any hope that the change might steady Schreuder’s team evaporated almost immediately.

Almugera Kabar clattered González in the box, the referee pointed straight to the spot, and Woltemade calmly converted to make it 3-0. Juventus were ruthless; NEC were reeling.

NEC flicker before the break

Amid the chaos, NEC did manage to show some attacking intent before half-time.

Noé Lebreton forced Kamil Grabara into action, Kabar also saw an effort beaten away by the Juventus goalkeeper, and Bryan Linssen fired over when a more composed finish might have given the travelling support something to cling to.

The chances were there. The cutting edge wasn’t.

Second half drifts, then the damage worsens

After the interval, the tempo dropped. Juventus were happy to manage the game, three goals to the good and in complete control. NEC, with experienced names like Tjaronn Chery, Dusan Tadic and Linssen on the pitch, tried to stitch together some kind of response but created little of real substance.

Geiger, on as that first-half substitute, came closest with a long-range effort that at least asked a question of Grabara. It was a rare moment of threat in a half that mostly drifted.

Then the scoreboard moved again.

Randal Kolo Muani, lively off the bench, broke down the flank and picked out Zeki Çelik with a precise cut-back. The defender swept home for 4-0, a goal that underlined Juventus’ ease in slicing through NEC’s shape by that stage.

Barely moments later, Kolo Muani took centre stage himself. Slipped through on goal, he rounded the advancing Polster and rolled in Juventus’ fifth. No angle, no panic, just a simple finish to complete NEC’s punishment.

The whistle eventually came as a mercy. For NEC, this was more than just a heavy defeat; it was a harsh lesson in the demands of European competition. The question now is how quickly Schreuder’s side can absorb it—and whether this bruising night in Turin becomes a turning point or the start of a grim pattern.