Juventus' 100% start in the Europa League came to a halt as they drew 2-2 with Rennes, with Jhon Lucumi seeing a potential late winner disallowed for offside.
2026/2027 UEFA Europa League
2-2
Match Report
Having beaten NEC 5-0 and Celta Vigo 2-1 to sit top of the league-phase standings going into matchday three, the Bianconeri had to settle for a share of the spoils on Thursday, in a game that saw Boulaye Dia and Nick Woltemade both score penalties awarded for handball.
Luciano Spalletti's team made the ideal start, striking in the fifth minute. Zeki Celik made a good third-man run and, after Woltemade linked up with Weston McKennie, the Turkiye international latched onto the German's throughball to slot into the bottom-left corner.
However, Rennes were only behind for 10 minutes as Bryan Reynolds headed Aboubakar Nagida's cross back across goal towards Mousa Al Tamari, whose clever flick beat Guglielmo Vicario.
Brice Samba made a big save to thwart Federico Gatti, but it was Rennes who inched ahead late in the first half as Douglas Luiz was penalised for blocking Nagida's rocket of a shot with his hand, allowing Dia to slot the resulting spot-kick home.
Juventus were on the right end of a similar decision made by referee Morten Krogh in the 66th minute, though, as Reynolds was deemed to have handled a back-post knock-down by Nico Gonzalez. Woltemade made no mistake from 12 yards, as he sent Samba the wrong way.
Woltemade missed a decent chance to put Juventus in front shortly afterwards, as his header deflected wide off Charlie Cresswell, but it was Lucumi who came closest to winning it for the hosts.
Amid a scramble in the area, the Colombian saw his left-footed shot on the swivel hit Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal and wrong-foot Samba, but following a VAR review, the substitute was deemed to have come back from an offside position.
FT | | The points are shared. #JuveSRFC #UEL https://t.co/UQaDcrBoSm
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 22, 2026
Woltemade's European run continues, but Juve held
Juventus came into Thursday's game having scored 12 goals in their last four European home matches, winning each of those contests, but they found things much tougher against a stubborn Rennes side.
Juve ended the game slightly behind on the shot count but ahead on expected goals, generating 14 attempts and 2.21 xG, compared to Rennes' 16 shots and 1.71 xG.
They were just unable to find a winner after fighting back to make it 2-2, though Spalletti will be delighted with the form Newcastle United loanee Woltemade has shown in Europe.
Having also found the net against NEC and Celta Vigo, Woltemade has scored in all three of his Europa League appearances for Juventus. He is just the third Bianconeri player to net on his first three outings for the club in major European competitions, after Darko Kovacevic in 1999 and Roberto Baggio in 1990.
The next task will be for the German to show the same form in Serie A, having failed to net in five league appearances, albeit all of those outings have come from the bench.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
5' GOAL! Juventus 1-0 Rennes (Zeki Çelik)
12' Match Event for Juventus vs Rennes
15' GOAL! Juventus 1-1 Rennes (Mousa Al-Tamari)
20' Highlight from Juventus vs Rennes
25' Highlight from Juventus vs Rennes
29' Match Event for Juventus vs Rennes
43' Penalty Goal! Juventus 1-2 Rennes (Boulaye Dia)
50' Match Event for Juventus vs Rennes
53' Match Event for Juventus vs Rennes
60' Match Event for Juventus vs Rennes
67' Penalty Goal! Juventus 2-2 Rennes (Nick Woltemade)
71' Match Event for Juventus vs Rennes
73' Match Event for Juventus vs Rennes
88' Match Event for Juventus vs Rennes
Line-ups
Juventus XI: Zeki Çelik, Vicario, Koopmeiners, Douglas Luiz, Gleison, Lloyd Kelly, Muani, McKennie, Nick Woltemade, Andrea Cambiaso, Gatti
Subs: Neto, Pinsoglio, Jérémie Boga, Jhon Lucumí, N. Gonzalez, Kalulu, Cabal, Pape Sarr, Antonio Stefano Merola, Kerim Alajbegovic
Rennes XI: Brice Samba, Thomasson, Rongier, Mahdi Camara, Mousa Al-Tamari, Bryan Reynolds, Boulaye Dia, Anthony Rouault, Charlie Cresswell, Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal, Mahamadou Nagida
Subs: Przemyslaw Frankowski, L.Blas, Nicolas Lemaître, Arnaud Nordin, Sebastian Szymański, Issa Soumaré, Quentin Merlin, Eliezer Mayenda, Djaoui Cissé, Kilian Belazzoug, Gonçalo Oliveira, Henrick Do Marcolino