Juventus 2-0 Parma: David off the mark, Cambiaso off early, Tudor off to a winning start
This was a grind. Juventus opened their Serie A season with a 2-0 win over Parma in Turin, a scoreline that hides just how much turbulence sat under it. Jonathan David scored on his league debut, Kenan Yildiz supplied both assists, and Andrea Cambiaso was sent off with 25 minutes left. New manager Igor Tudor got the three points he wanted, but he also got an early snapshot of the nerves and resilience inside his squad.
The pace was sharp from the first whistle. Parma struck first, forcing a corner inside five minutes when Mathias Lovik’s strike clipped Cambiaso and skidded wide. Juventus answered in kind: Francisco Conceicao met a Khephren Thuram cross with a clean header that drew a sharp save from Zion Suzuki. Cambiaso was busy at both ends, racing back to block Lovik from close range after a long throw caused chaos.
Neither side controlled the first half for long. Juventus found good positions but wasted them. A promising move fizzled when David and Kenan Yildiz read the same back-post cross differently and watched the ball skip through untouched. Thuram drove through midfield, Conceicao kept asking for the ball, but the final pass never lined up. Parma, missing several starters, stayed compact and looked to spring forward through quick diagonals and second balls.
By halftime, the patterns were clear: Juventus had more of the ball and the bigger names, Parma had the cleaner breaks. Suzuki’s handling was tidy, and the visitors’ back line kept the box crowded. The hosts needed a cleaner edge, and David—active but imprecise before the break—needed one touch to settle his debut.
Red card drama, tactical tweaks, and Yildiz’s breakout night
Parma came out brighter after the interval. Mateo Pellegrino forced Gleison Bremer into a brave block, a small victory for the Brazilian center-back on his first full start after a long ACL layoff last season. Juventus responded with long-range efforts from Federico Gatti and Yildiz, the latter growing into the game as the space between Parma’s lines opened up.
Then came the release. In the 58th minute, Yildiz drifted inside, slowed the play, and rolled a clever cutback to the penalty spot. David, alert and balanced, met it first time and swept the ball past Suzuki. One chance, one finish, and the debut jitters were gone. It looked like the platform for a calm final half-hour.
That plan lasted seven minutes. Cambiaso went into a challenge he didn’t need and saw a straight red in the 65th minute. No complaints from the Juventus bench—Tudor turned to his staff, gestured for a reshuffle, and the game flipped. With ten men, Juventus had to close ranks, surrender some territory, and trust their timing on the break.
Parma pushed. They worked the ball wide, sent runners through the channels, and tried to isolate the full-backs. The approach brought pressure but not many clean looks. Crosses were met by Bremer and Gatti, and when the visitors tried to find neat passes around the box, Juventus’ midfield tightened the gaps. A half-chance here, a blocked shot there—promising but not ruthless.
That left the door open for a counter to kill it, and Yildiz walked through. Late in the half, he pounced on a turnover, carried the ball forward, and slipped a measured pass to Dusan Vlahovic. The striker did what elite strikers do: one touch to set, one to finish. 2-0. Job done, even with the man disadvantage.
Yildiz was the thread that held everything together. Two assists, constant movement, and the confidence to take responsibility when the match tilted the wrong way. David’s debut goal will grab the headline, but Yildiz’s poise under pressure told the story of the night.
Tudor’s first league match on the Juventus bench also featured a handful of quiet subplots. Bremer’s return to a full 90 after his ACL injury last October is a significant box ticked for a defense that will need stability. Khephren Thuram showed flashes of drive and vertical passing that hint at a bigger role once chemistry sharpens around him. Conceicao kept making smart runs from the right, even if the payoff wasn’t there yet.
Juventus were not at full strength. Nicolò Savona, Fabio Miretti, Juan Cabal, Mattia Perin, and Arkadiusz Milik were unavailable, thinning out options in midfield, at full-back, in goal, and up front. The bench still carried enough bite to see things out, but the red card turned what could have been a steady closing stretch into a stress test. Expect Cambiaso to face a suspension, which will force Tudor to tweak his shape and personnel next week.
Parma’s selection problems were even steeper. With Jacob Ondrejka and Matija Frigan sidelined long term, they leaned on structure and work rate. It almost paid off: the opening 20 minutes and the spell after the red card showed a team that can hang physically and tactically. What was missing was the decisive action in front of goal—a clean final pass, an extra run at the back post, a striker’s touch in traffic. If they find that, nights like this swing the other way.
There’s also a bigger picture for Juventus. The aim this season is obvious: chase down champions Napoli. Three points on opening day doesn’t prove anything by itself, but the composure after going down to ten men is the kind of habit that carries across months. There will be tougher trips and tighter matches. Getting a debut striker scoring and a young creator delivering in week one is exactly the kind of momentum Tudor wanted.
What did we learn?
- Jonathan David offers penalty-box clarity. He didn’t need volume; he needed position and a clean finish, and he delivered both.
- Kenan Yildiz is more than a spark—he’s a connector. Two assists, yes, but also tempo control when the game frayed.
- The defensive core looks settled. Bremer’s timing in duels and Gatti’s aggression handled most of Parma’s direct play.
- Discipline matters. Cambiaso’s red turned a comfortable lead into a grind. That’s a fixable issue—and an early reminder.
For Parma, there were encouraging signs in the press, the energy in midfield, and the calm from Suzuki in goal. The margins at this level are brutal, and they felt that on both Juventus goals. Keep the shape, add more teeth in the box, and they’ll take points off bigger sides this season.
Tudor won’t celebrate the performance, but he’ll take the path: some control, a clinical edge, a storm to ride out, and a late punch to settle it. On opening weekend, that’s a solid day’s work.