Highly-rated Netherlands defender stuck out leg before ball went into own net
Wednesday 24 July 2019 16:25, UK
Matthijs de Ligt scored an own goal on his first start for new club Juventus in the International Champions Cup match against Inter Milan in Nanjing, China.
The mistake happened when the defender failed to deal with an inswinging corner from Inter's Stefano Sensi and stuck out a leg inside the six-yard box which made contact with the ball and beat his own goalkeeper.
Luckily for him, his team-mate and the club's most expensive signing Cristiano Ronaldo equalised for Juventus with 22 minutes remaining in the pre-season friendly.
The match ended 1-1 at full time and the Italian champions went on to win 4-3 in on penalties after veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved three spot-kicks.
It was a first start for De Ligt after he came on as a substitute in their 3-2 defeat against Tottenham at the weekend.
The Netherlands centre-back joined the Italian Serie A champions from Ajax for an initial fee of £67.8m - making him the most expensive defender in Italian top-flight history.
De Ligt, who signed a five-year deal, had previously been linked with Manchester United and Barcelona.
The 19-year-old also has a £134.8m release clause which will start from the third year of his contract.
De Ligt - Ajax's youngest ever captain - led the Eredivisie club to a domestic league and cup double last season.
He also took them to the Champions League semi-finals in which they lost to Tottenham in the final seconds in Amsterdam.
