08 August 2026
The Men’s First Team fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat against Inter in the first 2026/27 pre-season match in Australia.
The Nerazzurri took the lead in the first half through Federico Dimarco and doubled their advantage in the second half via Andy Diouf. In the closing stages, Juventus pulled one back through Chico Conceicao.
INTER SCORE FIRST
Juventus tried to control possession from the very first minute, whilst Inter sat back and looked to exploit the spaces. In the 3rd minute, Edon Zhegrova swung a free-kick into the box and Ange-Yoan Bonny got there first, conceding the Bianconeri’s first corner. Shortly afterwards, Kenan Yildiz, with a fine piece of play, set up Andrea Cambiaso, who was stopped by the Nerazzurri defence.
The first real shot of the match came from Inter. In the 11th minute, following a corner taken by Federico Dimarco, Nicolo Barella struck a volley from 22 metres out but failed to hit the target. In the 18th minute, Juventus had their first attempt, with Zhegrova’s left-footed shot from distance saved by Ivan Provedel.
Two minutes later, however, Inter broke the deadlock. Bonny dribbled past an opponent and played the ball across to Dimarco, who struck it first time with an angled shot that beat Michele Di Gregorio to make it 1–0.
Juventus responded and, in the 28th minute, came close to equalising from a set-piece: Douglas Luiz sent the ball into the box, Weston McKennie nodded it on to Gleison Bremer, but Provedel came off his line to beat him to it before he could shoot. In the 32nd minute, it was Di Gregorio’s turn to punch away a powerful free-kick from Hakan Calhanoglu from over thirty metres.
Juventus grew into the game towards the end of the half. In the 37th minute, Douglas Luiz played a fine ball to Cambiaso, who opted for a cross rather than a shot and was closed down by the Inter defence. A minute later, Yildiz won the ball back and immediately tried his luck with a shot from 22 metres, but it went wide.
DIOUF DOUBLES THE LEAD, CONCEICAO GETS ONE BACK
Juventus made several changes at half-time: among the players on the pitch for the second half were Teun Koopmeiners, Zeki Celik, Juan Cabal, Kerim Alajbegovic, Randal Kolo Muani and Chico Conceicao. Alajbegovic immediately made his mark, first with a low cross that was deflected for a corner and then, in the 53rd minute, with a low shot at the near post saved by Provedel.
The Bianconeri tried to take control of the match, but in the 63rd minute, Inter doubled their lead. Francesco Pio Esposito laid the ball off to Diouf, who beat Cambiaso and made it 2–0 to the Nerazzurri.
Shortly afterwards, Daniele Rugani, Fabio Miretti and Arthur Melo also came on. In the 67th minute, Alajbegovic played a fine ball into the box, but Kolo Muani failed to get his head to it from a good position. At the other end, in the 70th minute, Inter came close to a third goal: Aleksandar Stankovic played in Matteo Lavelli, who found himself one-on-one with Di Gregorio but shot over the bar.
In the closing stages, Juventus tried to get back into the game and, in the 85th minute, the Bianconeri scored. Miretti played a through ball to Conceicao, who broke clear from an onside position, ran into the box and beat Josep Martinez with a powerful, precise shot, making it 2–1.
Juve kept believing and, in the 88th minute, created another chance through Alajbegovic, who received the ball on the right of the box and fired a shot that Martinez saved. A minute later, Koopmeiners tried his luck from distance, but failed to hit the target. The final chance fell to Inter, with Carlos Augusto’s header from a corner going wide.
The match ended 2-1 to Inter; Juve failed to secure their fifth consecutive clean sheet but can take heart from what was largely a good performance. Next up is the match against Palermo on Tuesday 11th, again in Perth.
