Juventus seal 1-0 pre-season friendly victory over Standard Liege

Juventus have their first pre-season victory under their belts thanks to a 1-0 win away against Standard Liege in Belgium: Fabio Miretti providing the only goal of the game.

This was Luciano Spalletti’s second pre-season test of the summer following a 0-0 draw against Basel last weekend. The Bianconeri head coach was still without several of his key first-team stars, many of whom are still on holiday after their involvement at the 2026 World Cup.

That meant no Gleison Bremer, no Weston McKennie, no Francisco Conceicao nor Jonathan David. Khephren Thuram and Kenan Yildiz are also working their way back up to full fitness and were not involved in Belgium on Saturday.

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 25: Kenan Yildiz of Turkiye in action during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between Türkiye and USA at Los Angeles Stadium on June 25, 2026 in Los Angeles, United States. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

It was a mix of youth and experience on the pitch for Juventus against Standard Liege. Lois Openda was the only senior centre-forward available in the matchday squad, but he was left out of the starting line-up with a loan move to Lyon in Ligue 1 on the horizon.

That meant that there was an opportunity for 18-year-old striker Arman Durmisi in the starting line-up. He was supported by Vasilije Adzic and Jeremie Boga in attack with Manuel Locatelli and Douglas Luiz starting together in central midfield.

Click here to read more about how today’s teams lined up.

LECCE, ITALY – MAY 09: Head coach of Juventus FC Luciano Spalletti smiles during the Serie A match between US Lecce and Juventus FC at Stadio Via del Mare on May 09, 2026 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images)

The hosts came flying out of the blocks and put Juventus under immediate pressure on the edge of their penalty area. Their first major chance of the game came after 10 minutes when Gustav Mortensen crossed in for Timothe Nkada, who was unable to apply the finishing touches in the area.

An error from Andrea Cambiaso after 22 minutes almost saw Standard Liege go 1-0 up, but Federico Gatti was able to get a vital block to Alexis Trouillet’s shot to turn it behind for a corner.

Douglas Luiz and Manuel Locatelli saw shots sail over the crossbar midway through the first half, which began to peter out heading towards the interval.

Spalletti made several personnel changes at the interval and also swapped formations from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-2-3-1. Mattia Perin, Zeki Celik, Joao Mario, Arthur Melo, Fabio Miretti and Justin Oboavwoduo were the players introduced at half-time.

Zeki Celik joins Juventus (Source: Juventus)

The breakthrough came 10 minutes into the second period when Miretti slammed a powerfully-driven free-kick into the back of the net from the edge of the penalty area.

The midfielder was left alone and had an opportunity for a quick-fire brace almost immediately afterwards, but was off-balance when he triggered his shot, Ibe Hautekiet grateful to have got a late block to it.

Standard Liege 0-1 Juventus

Miretti 55’.

Line-ups

Standard Liege: Epolo; Mortensen, Hautekiet, Karamoko, Drammeh, Fossey, Ilaimaharitra, Trouillet, Nielsen, Abid, Nkada.

Juventus first-half XI (3-4-2-1): Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Gatti, Kelly; Cambiaso, Locatelli, D.Luiz, Licina; Adzic, Boga; Durmisi.

Juventus second-half XI (4-2-3-1): Perin; Celik, Kalulu, Kelly, J.Mario; Arthur, Locatelli; Cambiaso, Miretti, Oboavwoduo, Boga.