Kenan Yildiz became Juventus’ youngest ever Champions League goalscorer on Tuesday, opening the scoring with a sublime strike against PSV Eindhoven (3-1). Enough to erase the record of the legendary Alessandro Del Piero, with whom the 19-year-old Turkish striker is now being compared in Italy.
His little masterpiece has a historical flavor. In more ways than one. Kenan Yildiz became the first scorer in the expanded Champions League on Tuesday, with its new format and single group of thirty-six teams. The young Juventus striker opened the scoring in sublime fashion against PSV Eindhoven (3-1). Served on the left side in the 21st minute, the Turkish international (14 caps, 1 goal) came back on his right foot to curl a shot into the top corner.
Enough to set the Allianz Stadium alight. Especially enough to become the youngest scorer in Juventus’ history in the Champions League, at 19 years and 136 days, for his big debut in the European Cup. Better than the legendary Alessandro Del Piero, who scored in a victory against Dortmund in September 1995 (3-1), at 20 years and 308 days.
“Is it Yildiz or Del Piero?”
With his number 10 and his natural ease on the pitch, Kenan Yildiz is also reminiscent of the former Italian artist, who scored 290 goals in 705 appearances with the Old Lady between 1995 and 2012. “Is it Yildiz or Del Piero?”, La Gazzetta dello Sport even wonders this Wednesday morning, recalling that the former Juve leader had also scored a sumptuous goal at the time against Borussia.
Born in Regensburg, in the south-east of Germany, Kenan Yildiz was trained at Bayern Munich, before joining Juventus at the age of 17 in the summer of 2022. After playing for a season with the youth team of the Piedmont club, he began his professional career in August 2023 during a success on the pitch of Udinese in Serie A (0-3). Before scoring his first goal at Frosinone at the end of December (1-2). Under contract until 2029, he has now made 37 appearances in the bianconero jersey, for 5 goals and 3 assists (all competitions combined).
