Nick Woltemade Scores First Goal for Juventus in Dominant 5-0 Win

Nick Woltemade had barely finished listening to his coach’s challenge when he answered it in the most direct way possible – with his first goal for Juventus.

Luciano Spalletti had gone public before kick-off against NEC Nijmegen, laying out exactly where he felt his new striker stood. Not ready. Not sharp enough. But too talented to ignore.

“He was not particularly fit when he arrived. He still needs to be built up. We have to let him play. He and Kolo Muani can also play together,” Spalletti said before the Europa League tie. Then came the sting that every forward hears loudest: “But during the game I need a real alternative in attack.”

A few hours later, both of his centre-forwards had delivered.

Juventus crushed NEC 5-0, a statement win after the turbulence of their first defeat of the season against US Sassuolo. Woltemade, starting for the first time since his summer loan move from Newcastle United, converted a 35th-minute penalty for 3-0. Randal Kolo Muani came off the bench and added the fifth, his first of the campaign as well.

For Woltemade, it felt like a small storm lifting.

The Italian press had circled him in the days leading up to the game. La Gazzetta dello Sport, dissecting Juve’s 3-2 loss to Sassuolo, had been blunt: “He still has a lot to learn and must get used to the level of the Italian league.” That sort of line sticks, especially when you cost more than 75 million euros and arrive from the Premier League with expectations strapped to your back.

Against NEC, he finally had a platform. His first start. A home crowd waiting to see more than potential.

The key moment said as much about the dressing-room mood as it did about Woltemade himself. When Juventus won the penalty, Nico Gonzalez picked up the ball, paused, then pushed it firmly into the German’s hands. No debate, no theatrics. Just a clear message: this one is yours.

The Argentine, who also spent time at VfB Stuttgart, gave Woltemade a playful ruffle of the hair. Spalletti clapped from the technical area. The rest of the team gathered round as the 24-year-old buried the spot-kick and finally opened his account.

This was supposed to be the slow build. After the Sassuolo defeat, Spalletti had indicated little would change in the short term for Woltemade. The striker, he stressed, had to reach the required fitness level before he could truly compete for a starting role.

Instead, against Nijmegen, he stayed on for 83 minutes. Long enough to show he could handle the workload. Long enough to suggest that his search for top form is no longer theoretical with Atalanta Bergamo looming on Sunday.

The timing of his breakthrough was layered with another twist. On the same day Woltemade scored his first Juventus goal, Jürgen Klopp named him in Germany’s second squad for the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Serbia on 1 October and Greece on 4 October.

The tall forward had already been part of Julian Nagelsmann’s World Cup squad, but his move to Newcastle United had stalled his international momentum. Despite the huge fee, his minutes in the Premier League were sparse. Even the appointment of German coach Matthias Jaissle at Newcastle did not significantly change his role. Talks with VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß came and went. The loan to Turin followed.

Now, Spalletti suddenly has options rather than questions. He can act on his own words and start Woltemade alongside Kolo Muani, testing the partnership he had flagged before the NEC game. Or he can lean on the security of the international break, let the striker bank more confidence with Germany, and then unleash a more polished version in October.

Either way, the narrative around Woltemade has shifted. From unfit and under scrutiny to a scorer in a 5-0 European win, with Juventus minutes in his legs and a Germany call-up in his pocket.

The next decision belongs to Spalletti. The next step, very clearly, to Woltemade.