Juventus vs PSV Eindhoven facts

Two former European champions help to kick off the new league phase of the UEFA Champions League as Juventus take on PSV Eindhoven on Matchday 1.

The Italian side, European Cup winners in 1985 and 1996, take on the Dutch champions, who lifted the trophy in 1988.

While Juve's run of 11 successive Champions League participations ended in 2023/24, PSV have reached the competition proper for a second consecutive campaign for the first time in eight years.

Surprisingly considering their respective European pedigrees, this is the teams' first fixture.

Form guide

Juventus

Record vs Dutch clubs: W8 D6 L6 F26 A20
Home record vs Dutch clubs: W5 D2 L2

This is Juve's first game against a Dutch club since the 2018/19 Champions League quarter-finals, when a 1-2 second-leg defeat at home to Ajax confirmed a 2-3 aggregate loss.

That ended Juve's seven-match unbeaten run against Eredivisie clubs (W4 D3), since a 2-0 loss at Feyenoord in the 1997/98 Champions League group stage. The Italian side had been unbeaten in six games against Dutch sides in Turin (W4 D2), stretching back to a 0-1 loss against Twente in the 1974/75 UEFA Cup semi-final second leg (1-4 aggregate).

Juventus are making their 24th appearance in the Champions League proper – an Italian record, three more than AC Milan.

The Bianconeri are returning to the competition having missed out in 2023/24. The previous season was their 11th consecutive Champions League campaign, and the first time they missed out on the round of 16 since 2013/14 as Juve finished behind Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain in their section.

Juve have lost three of their last four home Champions League matches having won ten of the previous 11, losing once.

The Turin team went on to win three Europa League ties in 2022/23 before losing 3-2 on aggregate to eventual champions Sevilla in the semi-finals.

Juventus did not feature in UEFA competition in 2023/24 for the first time since 2011/12.

Champions of Europe in 1985 and 1996, Juve have also lost seven European Cup finals including five in the Champions League era, in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2015 and 2017 – more than any other club.

Having won a record nine successive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2020, Juve finished third in 2023/24 – their highest final placing since being crowned champions in 2019/20.

Massimiliano Allegri left Juventus in May after three years in charge – he had also coached the club between 2014 and 2019, leading them to the Champions League finals in 2015 and 2015 – to be replaced by Thiago Motta.

PSV

Record vs Italian clubs: W9 D6 L11 F28 A31
Away record vs Italian clubs: W2 D4 L7

PSV last faced Italian opponents in the 2018/19 Champions League group stage, losing 2-1 at home to Inter Milan before a 1-1 away draw.

The Eindhoven club are without a win in their last four games against Serie A sides (D2 L2), although they have suffered only one defeat in their last five games in Italy (W2 D2), going down 0-3 at AC Milan in the 2013/14 Champions League play-off second leg (1-4 aggregate).

This is PSV's 18th appearance in the Champions League proper – level with Ajax's Dutch record – and a second in succession.

The Eindhoven club returned to the group stage last season for the first time since 2018/19, when they finished fourth in their section having collected only two points. PSV fared better in 2023/24, finishing second behind Arsenal – but ahead of Lens and Sevilla – in Group B only to lose out to eventual finalists Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16 (1-1 h, 0-2 a).

That was PSV's first knockout appearance since 2015/16, and just the fifth time they had progressed beyond the initial Champions League group stage.

A 1-0 home victory against Lens on Matchday 4 last season ended PSV's 15-game run without a win in the Champions League group stage, home and away, since a 2-1 defeat of CSKA Moskva on Matchday 6 in 2015/16; their record between those two results was D5 L9.

A 3-2 Matchday 5 win in Seville last season is PSV's only success in their last 17 away matches in the Champions League proper (D5 L11), since a 1-0 victory at CSKA on 27 November 2007.

The Eindhoven side have won five of their last 15 European away games, losing four.

This is the first time PSV have qualified directly for the Champions League proper since 2016/17.

Having finished second in the Eredivisie for three successive seasons, PSV claimed their first league title since 2017/18, finishing seven points clear of champions Feyenoord. Peter Bosz's side won 29 of their 34 league games, losing only one, their final tally of 91 points eclipsing Ajax's previous record of 89 set in 1997/98.

Links and trivia

Have played together:
Khéphren Thuram & Walter Benítez (Nice 2019–22)
Pierre Kalulu & Sergiño Dest (AC Milan 2022/23)
Andrea Cambiaso & Jerdy Schouten (Bologna 2022/23)

Motta coached Schouten at Bologna in 2022/23.

Have played in Netherlands:
Teun Koopmeiners (AZ Alkmaar 2017–21)
Francisco Conceição (Ajax 2022/23 loan)

Has played in Italy:
Hirving Lozano (Napoli 2019–23)

International team-mates:
Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah & Ricardo Pepi, Malik Tillman, Sergiño Dest, Richie Ledezma (United States)
Nicolás González & Walter Benítez (Argentina)

Latest news

Juventus

On Saturday Juventus recorded their second successive 0-0 draw, being held at Empoli.

That made it four successive clean sheets to start the Serie A season for only the fifth time in the club's history.

Juve started the season with two consecutive 3-0 wins before a goalless draw against Roma.

Twenty-year-old Belgian forward Samuel Mbangula scored on his Serie A debut, a 3-0 win against Como on 19 August, with his first shot in goal in the competition.

The following week another debutant, Nicolò Savona, marked his first Serie A game with a goal in a 3-0 win against Verona.

Dušan Vlahović scored the other two goals against Verona, his 18th multi-goal game in Serie A since 2019/20. Nobody has more in this spell.

The 0-0 draw at home to Roma on 1 September meant Juve had kept three successive clean sheets at the start of a Serie A season for the first time since 2014/15.

Nicolás González scored for Argentina in a 2-1 FIFA World Cup qualifying defeat in Colombia on 10 September.

After a goal and an assist in the first game against Como, Timothy Weah missed the matches against Verona and Roma with a thigh injury, returning as a substitute on Saturday.

Khéphren Thuram also came on at Empoli having also missed the previous two games with a similar injury, while Francisco Conceição suffered a calf injury in training on 4 September and missed the weekend draw.

PSV Eindhoven

PSV have won all five Eredivisie games in 2024/25, scoring 20 goals and conceding only three. They were 2-0 victors at home to NEC Nijmegen on Saturday.

Guus Til has scored in PSV's last three matches.

PSV were the fifth Dutch side to score 15 or more goals in their first three league games – the fourth time the Eindhoven club have managed it.

The Eindhoven club have scored in their last 55 Eredivisie matches – a total of 173 goals – surpassing the league record set of 54 by PSV between October 2014 and March 2016.

PSV have won 11 of their last 12 league games.

A 3-1 reverse at NEC Nijmegen on 30 March was PSV's only league loss in 2023/24 and their only Eredivisie defeat in their last 55 matches (W46 D8).

Luuk de Jong went off injured in the first half of a 3-0 win against Go Ahead Eagles on 1 September but returned on Saturday, scoring the first goal.

Ismael Saibari came on midway through the second half on Saturday for his first appearance of the season.

Hirving Lozano suffered a muscle injury during a 1-1 friendly draw against Genk on 5 September and missed the weekend win.

Sergiño Dest has not played since suffering a knee injury in May.

Armando Obispo (knee) and Mauro Júnior (hamstring) have both been out since July.

Fredrik Oppegård was replaced with a knock in a 7-1 win at Almere City on 24 August and has not played since.