(Football news) Juventus will be left disappointed as they drew 1-1 to Villarreal despite Dusan Vlahovic scoring the quickest-ever Champions League goal from a debutant starter. However, it wasn’t enough for them to get a positive result in El Madrigal. The Serbian international joined the Old lady in January from rivals Fiorentina after a sensational 18 months and showed his worth on the biggest stage of all as he opened the scoring within 32 seconds but were pegged back by Villarreal in the second half by a goal from their captain Parejo. 

Vlahovic beautifully chested Danilo's long ball down before firing past goalkeeper Rulli with his weaker right foot but Villarreal were quick to respond and dominated the ball possession as in the second half. They levelled the game in the 66th minute when Dani Parejo finished from close range after Etienne Capoue found him free in the penalty box. The opening goal had Juve in control for a long time as Villarreal kept the ball possession without much penetration going forward as Juve kept them at arm's length for the majority of the match as Arnaut Danjuma went closest for the hosts in the first half when his improvised backheel was saved by Wojciech Szczesny. McKennie had the best chance to double the lead for Juve on 38 minutes but saw his was blocked by Villarreal defender Raul Albiol. 

Juve who have been eliminated at the round of 16 to Lyon and FC Porto in the past two seasons again failed to add to their early advantage and sat back which allowed Villarreal back into the game. Unai Emery's side did well and pulled a goal back through Parejo and then looked threatening and more likely to take the lead. Adrien Rabiot was lucky to stay on the field as he picked up just a yellow card for a very high challenge on Samuel Chukwueze on 73 minutes. After the match, it was known that Weston McKennie  suffered fractures to the second and third metatarsals in his left foot, which will leave him sidelined for 8-12 weeks.

"My dream has come true at Juve, but I am not happy because we didn't win and we all really wanted the victory today. It didn't happen, so we moved forward. I think we did what we had prepared in the locker room, but of course a lot depends on the opponents. We say congratulations to Villarreal on their performance, we tried to continue the way we started. I have personally already forgotten this match, we just have to look forward to the next game" Vlahovic after the game.

Unai Emery said during his press conference “We showed maturity and experience as individuals and a collective. These allowed us to realise that anything can happen against these teams, so we managed not to let our heads drop. That maturity was very important. Raul Albiol helped his teammates remain calm and we turned the game around. A second goal conceded would’ve been worrying, but we showed character and are fully satisfied”.

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