VILLARREAL, Spain (AP) — Dusan Vlahovic scored 31 seconds into his Champions League debut as Juventus drew 1-1 at Villarreal in the opening match of their round-of-16 tie on Tuesday.
Dani Parejo leveled for Villarreal in the 66th minute, leaving the playoff poised for the decider in Italy with the away-goal rule scrapped this season.
Vlahovic showed why Juventus picked him to provide the goals it had been missing since the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo when he scored a superb goal on his first contact with the ball just moments after kickoff.
After using his chest to control a long pass from Danilo, the 22-year-old Serbia striker did not hesitate to immediately take on center-back pair Pau Torres and Raul Albiol. He used one touch to prepare his shot taken with his weaker right foot while he spun toward the goal. The low effort grazed the foot of a defender before squirting in at an angle past goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.
It was his second goal with Juventus since the team secured his 70 million euro ($80 million) transfer from Fiorentina near the end of the January transfer window.
"(Vlahovic) is a very young player and he scored in his very first Champions League game, so imagine what a career he has in front of him," Juventus forward Alvaro Morata said about his new strike partner.
Villarreal tied to respond through its speed on the flanks. Alfonso Pedraza stole the ball and sped from the left side of the box before he laid off for Giovani Lo Celso, only for his scuffed attempt to find the top of the left post in the 13th.
Vlahovic also impressed with his ability to pull down more long balls for his teammates in the first half. But Parejo’s 66th-minute equalizer came just after Albiol made it his mission to start taking away that outlet.
Following Albiol’s challenge to win a ball from Juventus’ new striker, the Italian team betrayed its defensive pedigree when it gave Etienne Capoue time to pick out a run forward by fellow midfielder Parejo. Juventus’ backline compounded that mistake by leaving Parejo free of a marker as he fired low to make it 1-1.
"When they score in the first minute, it ruins your game plan. But even so, we knew how to hang in there and go for the match," Parejo said. "To draw 1-1 after starting from behind, I am satisfied with how we played and the chances we created against a giant like Juventus."
Vlahovic almost conjured up the winner with five minutes remaining with a powerful shot that Rulli did well to stop.
United States midfielder Weston McKennie had to be substituted for Juventus in the 80th after he received a hard tackle into his lower left leg by substitute Pervis Estupinan.
In London, defending champion Chelsea got goals from Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz to beat Lille 2-0.
Juventus is trying to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018-19 after losing in the round-of-16 in the past two seasons.
Unai Emery has Villarreal, last season’s Europa League champion, back in the knockout rounds of Europe’s elite club competition for the first time in 13 years.
The second leg will be played in Turin on March 16.
