Juventus held to 1-1 draw by Villareal after new signing Vlahovic opened the scoring in just 62 seconds
When the Serbian striker handled a long pass from Danilo, he didn’t hesitate to overpower Pau Torres and Raul Albiol. After one touch to prepare, his shot was taken with his weaker right foot as he spun toward the goal. It grazed the foot of a defender before squirting in at an angle past the goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli.
With the away-goal rule abolished this season, Villarreal’s Dani Parejo scored in the 66th minute to send the tie to a decider in Italy. Juventus were dealt another blow as midfielder Weston McKennie was taken out with a fractured left foot in the eighth minute.
After losing in the last 16 in each of the previous two seasons, Juventus is attempting to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2018-19, while Villarreal, the Europa League champions last season, is back in the knockout rounds of Europe’s elite club competition for the first time in 13 years. The second leg will take place on March 16 in Turin.
