Villarreal welcome Juventus to La Ceramica this evening in the first leg of the last 16 of the Champions League. It’s as big a tie as it gets for the Yellow Submarine; they don’t come much bigger than the historic Italian club in the context of European football.
Villarreal go into the game sixth in La Liga, having recovered after an underwhelming start to their domestic campaign. They’re three points behind fourth-placed Barcelona and 18 behind league leaders Real Madrid, and they’re in good form.
Juventus come into the game fourth in Serie A, still seething after losing their league title to Internazionale last season. They’re three points clear of fifth-placed Atalanta and nine behind current pace-setters Milan. They’re unbeaten in five.
And they took the lead at La Ceramica inside the first minute. It was Dusan Vlahovic, their January signing from Fiorentina, who struck first blood to score his first-ever Champions League goal. The 22-year-old Serbian is an incredibly promising prospect.
Welcome to the Champions League, Dušan Vlahović 🙌🤩
The Serbian striker scores just THIRTY-ONE SECONDS into his #UCL debut 😳👏
What a start he's made to life at Juventus! ⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/lSqlQYS2l4
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 22, 2022
