Woltemade involved in both goals but VAR denies Lucumí as Juventus draw 2-2 with Rennes

Nick Woltemade created Juventus's opener and scored their equaliser, but Jhon Lucumí's late winner against Rennes was ruled out for offside. The draw in Turin moves Spalletti's side to seven points in the Europa League league phase ahead of Sunday's trip to Lecce.

Juventus came within a VAR decision of beating Rennes at the Allianz Stadium on Thursday 22 October. Jhon Lucumí found the net in the 90th minute. Referee Morten Krogh studied the pitchside monitor and disallowed the goal for offside. Eight minutes of stoppage time followed, and the match finished 2-2.

Nick Woltemade was central to both Juventus goals. Spalletti’s side now sit on seven points after three league-phase matches. They had lost 0-3 to Lazio in their previous game.

Rennes turned an early deficit into a half-time lead

Zeki Çelik put Juventus ahead in the fifth minute from Woltemade’s pass. Mousa Al-Tamari equalised in the 15th minute, set up by Bryan Reynolds. Federico Gatti was booked in the 19th minute for stopping the Rennes goalkeeper from taking a quick clearance.

Weston McKennie hit the post at around the half-hour mark with the score still level. Rennes then won a penalty when Douglas Luiz was penalised for handball. Boulaye Dia converted it in the 43rd minute, and the visitors led 1-2 at the break. Çelik, the scorer of the opener, went off injured after 45 minutes. Al-Tamari earned the match’s top rating from the data provider, 8.2.

Woltemade’s penalty levelled a game Juventus edged on chances

The equaliser came from the spot. Reynolds blocked a Nico González header with his arm away from his body, and VAR upheld the award. Woltemade scored the penalty in the 67th minute. He finished with seven shots and two key passes.

Juventus generated expected goals of 2.25 against 1.72 for Rennes. They also had 54% of possession. Rennes took more shots, 16 to 14, and put more on target, five to four. Juventus were caught offside three times, while the visitors were never flagged. Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal was booked in the 82nd minute for time wasting.

Both sides were short of key players. Spalletti was without the injured Locatelli, Yildiz, Thuram, Grabara, Ekhator and Conceição. Zhegrova and Milik were unavailable because they are not on the UEFA squad list. Antonio Stefano Merola was in the 21-man squad after his first senior call-up. Rennes were missing their leading scorer Lepaul, who was injured and did not travel from France.

Krogh had refereed nine Europa League matches and one Champions League match before this game. He had never taken charge of either club.

Juventus’s next Europa League fixtures are away to AZ Alkmaar on 5 November 2026 and at home to Omonia on 26 November 2026. Before that, Serie A resumes. Lecce host Juventus on matchday 8, with Eusebio Di Francesco’s side kicking off against Spalletti’s at 18:00 Italian time on Sunday 25 October.