Juventus 4-4 Borussia Dortmund: Kelly rescues a point at the death in crazy Champions League clash

In partnership with

FromTheSpot

·16 de setembro de 2025

Juventus 4-4 Borussia Dortmund: Kelly rescues a point at the death in crazy Champions League clash

Eight second half goals saw Borussia Dortmund blow their lead on three separate occasions away at Juventus, as the two sides kicked off their Champions League campaigns with a point apiece.

A goalless first half was followed by a slew of action in the second. Dortmund took the lead first through Karim Adeyemi before Kenan Yildiz equalised. Felix Nmecha responded and then Die Schwarzgelben were pegged back again by Dušan Vlahović.

Vídeos OneFootball

The visitors thought they’d won it when Yan Couto’s goal was bolstered by a Ramy Bensebaini penalty to afford them some breathing room, but two stoppage time goals from Vlahović and Lloyd Kelly ensured a remarkable ending to a scarcely believable second half of football.

As it happened

From a neutral point of view, it was a rather underwhelming start to the match at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, particularly following Juventus’ 4-3 win over Inter at the weekend which featured thunderbolt after thunderbolt. This time, patience was a virtue.

In the opening 45 minutes, most shots were speculative. Loïs Openda flicked wide and Bremer came close with an ambitious volley, but neither Michele Di Gregorio nor Gregor Kobel were made to work all that hard.

Things couldn’t have been more different in the second half.

It took seven minutes for the first goal of the half to hit the back of the net, as Adeyemi fired low and hard into the bottom corner, leaving Di Gregorio flat-footed. At the time, it felt against the run of play. Soon, though, it became clear there was no run of play at all.

Yildiz responded just past the hour-mark with a trademark stunner, whipping a delicious strike into the very top corner with venom, dip and swerve. The Old Lady were level for two whole minutes, before Nmecha curled home an accomplished finish of his own from outside the box, restoring the yellow and black lead.

You’d forgive Juventus for feeling dejected here, but not to worry: they too would mute their opponents’ celebrations after just two minutes. Vlahović – on the pitch for just seven minutes by this point – was released in on goal by Yildiz and returned the favour by firing the ball into the bottom corner to restore parity.

After five minutes which saw three goals, there was an agonizingly long seven-minute drought without one. Couto would be the man to break that, drilling a snapshot into the bottom corner of Di Gregorio’s near post to once again silence the black and white half of Turin.

In the 86th minute and after already giving the lead away twice, Dortmund thought they’d put the game to bed after Serhou Guirassy’s shot was blocked by the arm – and that’s by a tenuous definition – of Kelly in the area, awarding the visitors a penalty. Bensebaini stepped up and slotted home what may already be the coolest penalty of the season, sending the Di Gregorio the wrong way without so much of a furrow of the brow.

Game over. It had to be. When Vlahović finished from close quarters in the fourth minute of stoppage time, it was surely little more than a reminder for the visitors to tighten up for the remaining two minutes. That was until it became something much more important.

In the 96th minute of a ridiculous football match, Vlahović turned provider with a hopeful ball towards the penalty spot. Luckily for him, Kelly had darted precisely there. He watched the ball all the way and, when the time was right, he headed the ball past a forlorn Kobel who couldn’t so much as move, let alone believe his eyes.

Cue extacy in Turin.

Just like they did against Inter at the weekend, Igor Tudor’s side had done it at the death. This time, they’d come back from behind three times, they’d scored twice in stoppage time, and in the end, they finished right where they started: with a point to their name.

There was no winner on the pitch, but there was in the boardrooms of UEFA, its inhabitants unable to ask for a better advert for their premier club competition.