Despite earning a place in the first team thanks to an impressive campaign with Cremonese, Nicolò Fagioli has been serving as a benchwarmer since the start of the season, an unpleasant task to say the least.
But yesterday, the 21-year-old made the most of his second-half introduction, leading Juventus to a timely win over hosts Lecce.
Max Allegri’s midfield immediately improved with the young Italian on the pitch, becoming significantly more fertile.
In addition, the club’s youth squad scored a splendid goal that turned out to be the only goal of the match.
The winner sparked wild celebrations, with the entire team hounding the midfielder who fought back tears.
After the match, Fagioli tried to explain why scoring his first goal for Juventus meant so much to him, while also describing it as a dream.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for this goal in this shirt, it was a dream come true!” said the former Cremonese man in his post-match interview as reported by the club’s official website.
“I wanted to go celebrate with the bench and with my teammates, they helped me a lot.
“You can say it was a goal ‘alla Del Piero’. As a kid I often watched how he played, however I really like playing in front of defense as I can play more balls and work on expanding the width.
“Our homework [as youngsters] is to make the biggest impact possible and our most experienced teammates make us feel safe. Waiting for my moment wasn’t easy, but I think I prepared myself for it.”
