Juventus arrive at Balaídos with Kerim Alajbegovic ready for a larger role, as Luciano Spalletti looks to carry the spark of Sunday in Cagliari into a European evening against Celta Vigo. The Bosnian winger is set to start after changing the Serie A match from the bench, supplying Randal Kolo Muani for his first league goal and then creating another chance which ended against the crossbar.
Key takeaways
- Alajbegovic is expected to begin alongside Francisco Conceição behind Nick Woltemade against Celta Vigo.
- The 19-year-old has already scored in Europe for Juventus, finding the net against NEC in September.
- A further European goal would make him Juventus’ youngest player to score twice in continental competition.
- The current club benchmark belongs to Pietro Fanna, who reached two European goals at 19 years and 132 days in 1977.
- Spalletti wants the €30 million former Bayer Leverkusen player to unsettle Celta’s defence, not merely chase a record.
A young player asked to shape the night
Alajbegovic has shown that he can make an impact beyond Serie A. He impressed for Bosnia and Herzegovina against Italy, then produced a fine finish against NEC, and Juventus will hope that the extra space often offered in European ties can again suit his running and directness.
Spalletti is not inclined to create entirely separate teams for domestic and continental football, but the coach has seen what the winger can bring when a match needs disruption. At Cagliari, his introduction gave Juventus a sharper edge after a subdued spell: Kolo Muani converted one delivery, while another opening ended with the Frenchman striking the bar.
Against Claudio Giráldez’s Celta, Alajbegovic will operate behind Woltemade with Conceição nearby. The assignment is clear: expose any weakness in the home back line, provide for team-mates when the opportunity appears and take responsibility himself when the route to goal opens. Having already scored at a World Cup, the teenager has shown he is not unfamiliar with significant occasions.
A place in Juventus’ European history
The trip to Vigo also gives Alajbegovic a rare historical target. His goal against NEC made him only the second 18-year-old Juventus player to score in Europe, following Gianfranco Zigoni. No Juventus player of his age has then added a second continental goal.
Alajbegovic is now 19 years and 24 days old, leaving him a little more than three months to surpass Fanna’s long-standing mark. Fanna scored twice in the 1977 European Cup campaign, first away to Omonia Nicosia in the opening round and later against Glentoran in the last 16. He was 19 years and 132 days old when he completed that pair.
There is another thread of memory around the fixture. Celta icon Iago Aspas recalled watching the Spanish club beat Juventus in 2000 as a 12-year-old in the stands. Alajbegovic, born years later, was effectively seven years away from birth at that point. On this occasion, Juventus will ask him to write a different kind of chapter: one in which youth is not protection from responsibility, but a reason to give the side greater boldness.
