Juventus secured a slender lead over PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League knockout phase play-off, thanks to a late strike from Samuel Mbangula. The Italian side, who finished 20th in the group phase, started the match dominantly, with Nicolas Gonzalez, Kenan Yildiz, and Paris Saint-Germain loanee Randal Kolo Muani all testing the PSV defense early on.
The breakthrough came in the 34th minute when Weston McKennie unleashed a stunning strike from the edge of the area after PSV failed to clear their lines, giving Juventus a 1-0 lead.
Mbangula was introduced at half-time for Yildiz and nearly made an immediate impact when his powerful volley was cleared off the line by Ryan Flamingo.
Despite Juventus struggling to create clear-cut chances thereafter, PSV found the equalizer with only their second shot on target. Ivan Perisic fired into the bottom corner, marking his first Champions League goal since 2020. After a lengthy VAR review over an alleged handball by Noah Lang in the build-up, the goal was allowed to stand.
With the match seemingly headed for a draw, Mbangula popped up in the dying minutes to score the winner from close range, handing Juventus a crucial 2-1 victory.
This was the second meeting between the clubs this season, with Juventus having already defeated PSV 3-1 in the group phase at home. The second leg of the play-off is set to take place at Philips Stadion on 19 February, with PSV needing a strong performance to overturn the deficit.
