Welcome to Forza Italian Football’s live blog for Juventus‘ trip to Udinese in Serie A as both sides look to open their respective campaigns. For the first time in a decade, La Vecchia Signora are starting the season without being reigning Italian champions.
Massimiliano Allegri is back at the helm though and he’ll be hoping to start well in his second spell at the club, with history suggesting that Juventus will get off to a winning start. Juventus have won seven of the last eight Serie A games against Udinese (L1), scoring 24 goals in this streak (an average of three per match), and have won nine of their last 10 season openers in Serie A: with their only defeat in this time coming in August 2015 against Udinese.
Serie A – Udinese 2-2 Juventus – Final Score
Juventus coach Allegri’s post-match comments about Cristiano Ronaldo: “Cristiano is fine, I spoke to him and told him he was on the bench. I said if we needed him to come on, he would. He did well when he came on.”
Rate the Juventus players
It was an evening to forget for Wojciech Szczesny and, for different reasons, Cristiano Ronaldo. Paulo Dybala impressed us, but we want to know your thoughts! Let us know how you thought Juventus played here in our interactive player ratings.
Post-match facts
- For just the third time in the era of three points for a win, Juventus conceded two or more goals in a season opener.
- In the three points for a win era, no Juventus player has scored a faster goal to start a season than Paulo Dybala’s (two minutes and three seconds).
- Dybala hadn’t both scored and assisted in the same Serie A match since June 2020 against Genoa.
- For the first time since 2004/05, Juventus scored each of their first two shots of the season.
- Roberto Pereyra has taken two penalties in Serie A, scoring both (vs Inter and Juventus).
- For the first time since joining Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo has started consecutive Serie A matches on the bench, this coming after being benched against Bologna in May.
FULL TIME – UDINESE 2-2 JUVENTUS
Well, what an ending that was. Udinese, having fought back from two goals behind to be level at 2-2, looked as though they were to be left heartbroken by a late Cristiano Ronaldo header only for a lengthy VAR check to rule it offside. What drama. Welcome back Serie A!
MINUTE 98 – NO JUVENTUS GOAL
VAR rules that Cristiano Ronaldo was offside. The goal doesn’t stand and that’s full time.
MINUTE 93 – JUVENTUS GOAL
For the second straight season, Cristiano Ronaldo has appeared in the last minute at the Dacia Arena to put Juventus ahead! Surely that’s the points now.
MINUTE 83 – UDINESE GOAL
Udinese are level! Unbelievable. Just as Juventus looked to be nearing the finish line, Gerard Deulofeu scores. That is disastrous goalkeeping from Szczesny to present the Spaniard with the chance, making a mess of a ball at his feet.
MINUTE 79 – WINDING DOWN
Things have settled down a little. The cooling break led to a disjointed few minutes in Udine, and Juventus will be happy to see things slow somewhat.
MINUTE 66 – JUVENTUS CLOSE
Juventus have clipped the woodwork again, this time with Rodrigo Bentancur coming close and hitting the post. Udinese were denied a strong penalty claim just moments earlier after a long VAR check.
MINUTE 60 – HERE COMES CRISTIANO!
The man at the centre of all of the controversy is on. Cristiano Ronaldo replaces Morata.
MINUTE 54 – JUVENTUS HIT THE POST
Morata comes close to restoring Juve’s two-goal cushion, heading off the post and coming within inches of finding the net.
MINUTE 51 – UDINESE GOAL
Well, we didn’t see this coming! Udinese have pulled one back through a Roberto Pereyra penalty. It’s 2-1 now and game on!
MINUTE 50 – UDINESE PENALTY
The hosts have a penalty after a foul from Wojciech Szczesny.
SECOND HALF BEGINS
Juventus have a two-goal cushion to protect in the second 45 minutes, but they looked comfortable enough for most of the first half that their lead shouldn’t be troubled in the second half here.
HALF TIME – UDINESE 0-2 JUVENTUS
Juventus take a comfortable lead in at the break. They got off the mark early and despite conceding a couple of chances in the opening 10 minutes, they haven’t looked troubled. Udinese, though, look like they could be in for a long, long season.
MINUTE 33 – JUVENTUS CHANCE
Alvaro Morata, who has been quiet for much of the evening, might feel as though he should have done better there. The ball fell his way to the left of the goal but he couldn’t wrap his foot around it and sent his shot wide.
MINUTE 23 – JUVENTUS GOAL
Juan Cuadrado doubles Juve’s lead! Dybala is involved again, this time setting the Colombian through with a ball over the top. Once Cuadrado gets into the box, he twists and turns before firing into the corner.
MINUTE 19 – UDINESE CLOSE AGAIN
Pussetto goes close again and this time he really should score. A corner finds him unmarked in front of goal, but he sends his header wide.
MINUTE 9 – UDINESE CHANCE
Szczesny has been forced into action at the other end as Pussetto tests him after some nice build-up play with Pereyra.
MINUTE 3 – JUVENTUS GOAL
Paulo Dybala is back! They’re dressed like Brazil, and Juventus’ first goal of the season was made in South America. Juan Cuadrado put Rodrigo Bentancure towards the byline and he, in turn, pulls back to Dybala to finish first-time to open the scoring. After the pre-match rumours, this is exactly what Allegri would have wanted.
KICK OFF AT THE DACIA ARENA
Juventus’ 2021/22 season is underway in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, even without Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch, and they’re wearing that controversial yellow, blue and white kit! Allegri will be desperate to get up and running with a positive result here.
Cristiano controversy
Cristiano Ronaldo’s future might not be as clear as it had seemed during the week, with the Portuguese reportedly left out of the Juventus XI by his own request. Sky Sport Italia are saying that he himself asked to be left out of the team, still hoping to leave Serie A this summer.
Cristiano Ronaldo out of #Juventus XI by request, seeking move away #UdineseJuventus https://t.co/FYBfnlwsnh pic.twitter.com/7uY08SsMl3
— ForzaItalianFootball (@SerieAFFC) August 22, 2021
Team news
Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t made Allegri’s first XI, with Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala leading the line for La Vecchia Signora.
Udinese: Silvestri; Becao, Nuytinck, Samir; Molina, Tolgay Arslan, Walace, Makengo, Udogie; Pereyra; Pussetto.
Juventus: Szczesny; Danilo, De Ligt, Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, Bentancur, Ramsey, Bernardeschi; Dybala, Morata.
Udinese a potential banana skin?
Juventus’ last trip to the Dacia Arena saw them leave with all three points, but only just. With Andrea Pirlo in charge then, they trailed with 10 minutes to play before Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty in the 83rd minute and then sealed a 2-1 win in the 89th.
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— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) August 22, 2021
When does Udinese v Juventus start?
Juventus make the trip across Northern Italy to Friuli-Venezia Giulia to face Udinese on Sunday evening, with kick off set for 18:30 CEST (local time).
- GMT: 17:30
- Eastern Time: 12:30
- Pacific Time: 9:30
Udinese themselves will be hoping to move on from a difficult summer, wherein they lost two of their most important players in Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid) and Juan Musso (Atalanta).
Where can I watch Udinese v Juventus in Serie A?
In the UK, BT Sport have the rights to Serie A and will show around 200 games over the course of the season, with this game being shown on BT Sport 1 or on the BT Sport App. Paramount+ hold the rights in the USA, and CBS Sports Network will also be showing it. Meanwhile in Australia, beIN Sports is the official broadcaster.
How to follow Udinese v Juventus in the USA LIVE?
If you’re living in the USA, you can view the Udinese v Juventus fixture on Paramount+, with the station having signed a deal that gives them a significant portion of Serie A broadcasts for the 2021/22 season.
How to follow Udinese v Juventus in the UK LIVE?
If you’re living in the UK, you can view the Udinese v Juventus fixture on BT Sport 1, with the subscription service having retained the rights to broadcast Serie A in 2021/22.
How to follow Udinese v Juventus in the Australia LIVE?
Viewers in Australia can watch the Udinese v Juventus clash on Saturday morning on beIN Sports, which is the official broadcaster of the Italian top flight in Australia. You can also get access to Serie A matches on beIN Sports through either Foxtel, Telstra, Foxtel Now or Kayo Sports
