Juventus thumps NEC in Europa League opener
Juventus began their Europa League campaign with a bang as Nick Woltemade scored his first goal for the club and Randal Kolo Muani got off the mark for his second stint in Turin, in a 5-0 win over NEC.
The damage was done during a dominant first half from Luciano Spalletti's side, with Nico Gonzalez, Kerim Alajbegovic and Woltemade all on target for the Serie A giant.
NEC improved after the break but were unable to mark its European return with a goal, with Juventus sealing the win with late strikes from Zeki Celik and Kolo Muani.
Juventus took just nine minutes to go in front at the Allianz Stadium when Kamil Grabara's long punt forward was completely misjudged by NEC goalkeeper Nikolas Polster, allowing Gonzalez the simplest of tasks to tuck the ball home.
It got even better for the hosts in the 24th minute after Pape Matar Sarr's incisive pass sent Weston McKennie on his way. The Juventus captain laid the ball off to Alajbegovic, who took a couple of touches before picking out the top-left corner.
NEC's misery was further compounded 10 minutes before the break when Almugera Kabar brought down Gonzalez in the penalty area, with Woltemade stepping up to send Polster the wrong way from the resulting spot-kick.
But the visitor looked the more likely to get themselves on the scoresheet after the break, with Dennis Geiger's effort just evading the top-right corner.
However, the result was put beyond doubt in the 75th minute by Celick, who finished on the line after Kolo Muani's brilliant run down the left set him up for a simple finish.
Kolo Muani added further gloss to the scoreline late on after racing on to Jhon Lucumi's pass over the top. Polster again came rushing out for possession but got his timing all wrong, allowing the recently returned striker to walk the ball into the net.
