Douglas Luiz put Juventus in front against OGC Nice on 31 July, finishing with his left foot after a defensive mistake to make it 1-0 in the preseason friendly at the Continassa. The goal gave Spalletti’s side the first real change in a match that had started cautiously and was being followed live as it happened.
That is why the search is on Juventus now: this was the club’s third summer test, and the team entered it after a 0-0 draw with Basilea and a one-goal win over Standard Liegi. The friendly was shown live on DAZN and also streamed free on Juventus’s official website, giving supporters a direct view of how the side was shaping up under Spalletti.
Juventus lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with Di Gregorio, Kalulu, Gatti, Kelly, Cambiaso, Douglas Luiz, Locatelli, Licina, Miretti, Oboavwodwo and Durmisi, while Perin and Boga were not among the call-ups. The shape mattered as much as the scoreline. Douglas Luiz found space at the edge of the area and finished cleanly, the kind of moment that can tilt a preseason match even when the rest of the team is still working through its patterns.
Nice were not simply sitting off. They moved the ball and kept looking for room, and Juventus spent long stretches defending its half well rather than chasing the game. That made the opener more valuable for the home side, because it came in a spell when the match still felt open enough for either team to grab control.
The night also began with a minute of silence for Franco Baresi, a reminder that preseason can still carry the weight of the game’s wider memory. Beyond the result, Juventus are using these summer tests to measure timing, chemistry and fitness, and Douglas Luiz’s goal offered the clearest sign yet that the work is turning into something more useful. What happens next is whether Juventus can protect the lead and finish the test with another clean step forward before the season proper arrives.
