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Five-star Juventus dazzle in big win over Al Ain in Club World Cup opener

Juventus celebrate one of their goals in their dominant win over Al Ain.
Juventus celebrate one of their goals in their dominant win over Al Ain.ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP
Juventus swept Al Ain aside to record a 5-0 victory in their first-ever FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) match, doing so against a side who had conceded just one goal in their previous seven games.

The Bianconeri looked bright from the very beginning and established a lead just 11 minutes into proceedings, when a lovely passage of play culminated in Randal Kolo Muani rising to head Alberto Costa’s cross past Rui Patricio.

While Al Ain had shown intent of their own, they struggled to stretch Michele Di Gregorio and conceded again when Francisco Conceicao jinked his way across the six-yard box and hit a shot that deflected in off Ramy Rabia

Momentum graph
Momentum graphOpta by StatsPerform

Shortly after Khephren Thuram saw a shot blocked, the Frenchman offloaded the ball to Kenan Yildiz, who worked enough space to hit an audacious shot from range that went in off the post just after the half-hour mark.

Juventus continued to play free-flowing football with Yıldız hitting the side netting before Conceicao saw his attempt deflected behind for a corner that resulted in Lloyd Kelly heading wide.

That play produced a fourth goal moments before the break when Kolo Muani raced behind to reach Thuram’s searching pass and apply a cool finish.

Kolo Muani vs Al Ain
Kolo Muani vs Al AinROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP / Opta by StatsPerform

Al Ain showed that they would continue to compete with a marginal offside call denying Rabia a goal two minutes after the restart. Di Gregorio then had to tip Kodjo Laba’s strike over the crossbar, before Weston McKennie fired a wild attempt off-target, and Costa’s shot was blocked at the other end.

However, Juventus were back on the scoresheet in the 58th minute, as Conceicao effortlessly glided inside Kouame Kouadio and beat Patricio. The debutant goalkeeper then rushed out to deny Kolo Muani a hat-trick after more scintillating play from Conceicao.

Match stats
Match statsOpta by StatsPerform

Douglas Luiz then struck wide before hitting the post, as Juventus recorded a third consecutive competitive victory for the first time since February, when they reached four wins in a row - a positive omen ahead of their contest with Wydad AC.

The Bianconeri also ended Al Ain’s seven-game winning streak, and Al Zaeem’s task won’t get any easier as they face Manchester City next.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Francisco Conceicao (Juventus)

See all the match stats with Flashscore.

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