Juventus Held to Goalless Draw by Basel in Pre-Season Opener

Juventus began preparations for the 2026/27 season with a goalless draw against Swiss side FC Basel in a pre-season friendly played on Saturday in Switzerland.

The Bianconeri created the better opportunities throughout the match but were unable to find the breakthrough, while goalkeeper Mattia Perin emerged as one of the standout performers after saving a second-half penalty to preserve the clean sheet.

Juventus threatened early through Vasilije Adzic, Jeremie Boga and Andrea Cambiaso, with Jonas Omlin producing several key saves for Basel during the opening half. 

Michele Di Gregorio also denied Xherdan Shaqiri from a dangerous free-kick before the teams headed into the break level at 0-0.

Jeff Ekhator was forced off during the first half with a thigh injury and was replaced by Lois Openda, who immediately added pace to Juventus' attack.

Head coach Luciano Spalletti made ten substitutions at the start of the second half, introducing Mattia Perin, Joao Mario, Daniele Rugani, Juan Cabal, Jonas Rouhi, Arthur, Fabio Miretti, Adin Licina, Arkadiusz Milik and Justin Oboavwoduo.

Juventus nearly broke the deadlock when Miretti found himself through on goal following a defensive mistake, but Basel goalkeeper Omlin denied the midfielder. Joao Mario and Oboavwoduo also came close, while Openda tested the goalkeeper with a long-range effort.

The biggest moment of the match came in the 58th minute when Arthur conceded a penalty after fouling inside the area. 

However, Perin produced an excellent save to deny Philip Otele from the spot and keep the score level.

Perin was called into action again later in the half, making another important stop to prevent Leo Leroy from finding the winner.

Basel finished the match with ten men after goalkeeper Mirko Salvi was shown a red card in the closing stages, but Juventus were unable to capitalize on their numerical advantage as the friendly ended in a 0-0 draw.