17 August 2023
The first match of the new season is always greatly anticipated. From the moment the championship calendar is announced, the days to the start of the campaign are counted down with great excitement.
There are many memorable stories related to Juve's opening fixtures in the Italian top-flight. Last year it was Dusan Vlahovic who was the star of the show, scoring a brace in Juventus' 3-0 win over Sassuolo on August 15.
THE SPECIALIST
Roberto Bettega was known as the specialist of Matchday 1. No one in the history of Juventus has scored as many goals as him in the first 90 minutes of the season: 13 in total, the first of which came on his Serie A debut in 1970's Catania-Juventus. The photo above shows him scoring the opener in the very first minute of 1982's Juventus-Cesena, which ended in a tennis match score of 6-1. Behind Roberto, with nine goals in the opening fixtures of the season, is David Trezeguet, another who wasted no time in letting opponents feel his presence.
CESARINI'S IMPACT
Long before Roberto Bettega, there was another player who also managed to open up the new season with a goal in the first minute. The year was 1931, when Renato Cesarini netted within the first 60 seconds of the match in a 4-1 victory over Pro Patria. Here we see him many years later, in the company of Umberto Agnelli.
ALEX'S STREAK
Scoring on Matchday 1 can only act as a stimulus for the greatest of champions. The player with the most consecutive goals on his the first day of the season is Alessandro Del Piero. From 2000 to 2004 he scored against Napoli, Venezia, Atalanta (in the photo above) and Empoli, netting a total of seven goals in four matches.
SEVEN TO START
The photo perfectly translates Juventus' desire to score at the start of the 1983/1984 championship. The scorer is Paolo Rossi, who pounces to usher the ball into the back of the net. The opponent is Ascoli, and this is the biggest opening day victory for the Bianconeri, mercilessly putting seven past their opponents. Proof that it was no fluke, Juve would repeat the very same 7-0 result three days later in the Cup Winners' Cup against Polish side Lechia Gdansk.
TWO VICTORIES OVER UDINE
Udinese-Juventus on Sunday, 20 August 2023 will be the fourth occasion on which the Old Lady will play in Friuli on Matchday 1. The three previous matches all produced positive results, with two wins and a draw. In 1960/1961, a goal by Umberto Colombo was enough to clinch the win, while in 1986/1987, Sergio Brio (in the photo above) and Lionello Manfredonia scored a goal in each half to secure a 2-0 victory. 2021/2022's opening day clash saw the Bianconeri lead 2-0 at the break with goals from Juan Cuadrado and Paulo Dybala, before Pereyra's penalty and Deulofeu's equaliser resulted in a share of the spoils.
