22 October 2024
Stuttgart beat Juventus 3-2 at the Allianz Training Center in Vinovo. It was the young Bianconeri’s first defeat in the UEFA Youth League, in the last seconds of injury time. Alessio Vacca's brace was not enough to secure a win for the Juventus Under 20 team, with Eliot Bujupi, Julian Luers and Kenny Fressle scoring the goals for the German team.
THE MATCH
The Bianconeri started strong and almost took the lead after a couple of minutes when Diego Pugno failed to hit the target after Vacca's excellent contribution in the penalty area. However, the goal arrived in the 14th minute, after a perfect move between the lines from Alessio Vacca, who received the ball a few metres outside the edge of the penalty area and smashed the ball past the German goalkeeper, with a perfect right-footed finish. Francesco Magnanelli's team continued to attack and Vacca narrowly missed out on his second goal of the match: after a great run down the right wing from Federico Savio and a back pass to the Juventus striker, Vacca took a shot that flew high over the crossbar. After a dominant start for the Bianconeri, their opponents found their feet in the final minutes of the first half, scoring in the 44th minute when Bujupi took advantage of a lucky rebound in the penalty area, leaving the score at the end of the first half 1-1.
The second half began with Adam Boufandar finding himself on the right-hand side of his opponents’ penalty area and unleashing a dangerous left-footer that went just over the German side's crossbar. The visitors made their presence felt on the attack, forcing Radoslaw Zelezny to intervene for the first time in the match, with a dive to his right to send Lauri Penna's left-footed shot out for a corner. The balance that had lasted for most of the second half was broken 15 minutes from the end of the match. After a free kick for Stuttgart from just outside the box, Luers rose up at the back post and put the ball past Zelezny. The Bianconeri responded almost immediately, and Lorenzo Biliboc, who had only just come on, came close to equalising but it ended in a corner kick. However, the young Bianconeri continued to push and found the equaliser five minutes before full time: Michele Scienza, another player who had recently come onto the pitch, passed to Savio who lined up the ball for the incoming Vacca, who then volleyed it into the net to make it 2-2. Magnanelli's team came close to taking the lead in the 87th minute when Vacca's long ball was chased down by Biliboc, who tried to chip it over the German goalkeeper, but the 18-year-old footballer was denied the 3-2. It all seemed to be heading for a draw, but in the final seconds of the match Stuttgart found the goal to secure the three points, as Zelezny could not stop Fressle’s shot from the penalty area. It was the Juventus Under 20 team’s first defeat in the UEFA Youth League.
