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Ligue 1

Woltemade matches Baggio record as Juventus draws with Rennes in Europa League

By WAF News Desk 2 min read
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Woltemade matches Baggio record as Juventus draws with Rennes in Europa League

Juventus drew 2-2 with Rennes in the Europa League on Thursday evening, with Nick Woltemade earning widespread praise from Italian media outlets for his starring performance. According to Football Italia, Woltemade provided the assist for Juventus's opening goal and then levelled the score from the penalty spot in the second half, with the Bianconeri fighting back to earn a point at the Allianz Stadium.

Woltemade's achievement holds particular significance within the club's European history. The German forward has now scored in each of his first three European matches for Juventus, matching a record previously held only by Roberto Baggio in 1990 and Darko Kovacevic in 1999, as reported by Football Italia. Italian newspapers including La Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport highlighted how Woltemade demonstrated his best qualities during the match, describing him as being at ease in the final third when deployed in his preferred attacking position.

The result represented a recovery for Juventus, who arrived at the fixture in difficult domestic form having suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Lazio in Serie A. However, the Bianconeri maintained their perfect Europa League record before this match, having previously beaten NEC 5-0 and secured a 2-1 comeback victory away to Celta Vigo. Juventus were without several key players including Francisco Conceicao, Kenan Yildiz and Manuel Locatelli through injury.

Rennes, who had drawn with Sturm Graz and beaten OFI Crete in their preceding fixtures, were hampered by the absence of top scorer Esteban Lepaul and adapted their formation to a three-man defence for the encounter. A late goal from Jhon Lucumi was disallowed for Juventus during the match, according to Football Italia.

Reporting from Football Italia

Sources

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