Thuram broke the deadlock on 72 minutes, with substitute Koopmeiners polishing off relegation-threatened Hellas Verona inside the toxic cauldron of the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Monday evening.
Under-pressure Juve coach Thiago Motta saw his troops completely misfiring until midway through the second half, in a match that was played in tricky conditions because of the constant boos.
The Juventus Ultras continued their two-day protest inside the Curva Sud, with their roars of angry boos and whistling directed at Motta and his players throughout.
Motta had ordered his squad to stay overnight in the club-affiliated J-Hotel before the clash, following their shockingly tame midweek Coppa Italia exit.
He claimed that his outburst after losing to Empoli was because he loved his players, but that love didn’t extend to top scorer Dusan Vlahovic starting.
Dusan Vlahovic benched
Paris Saint-Germain loanee Kolo Muani started and his decision backfired in the first half. It was unclear whether Motta was trying to protect his Serbia striker from having another confrontation with supporters, having had a run-in with Juve fans last December, or whether he had simply dropped him.
Vlahovic, who swept home with aplomb after just 12 minutes into his first Serie A start of 2025 with what proved to be the only goal against Cagliari, was benched.
He had experienced an absolute nightmare during the humiliating Coppa Italia defeat, albeit on a penalty shootout, to Empoli. Vlahovic had fluffed chances to score, and still couldn’t find the back of the net with his spot-kick, which he skied over the crossbar against unfancied Empoli.
Kenan Yildiz was equally guilty of Juventus being dumped out of the Coppa Italia quarter-finals. He at least saw his spot-kick saved, as the reigning champions lost 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 stalemate.
The Turkish teenager was given the nod to start against Verona by Motta, but took until the 41st-minute before managing to get an effort on target.
French international Muani was just as ineffective during the opening half, only managing one shot that was blocked in the box.
Verona’s resilient defence, which had surprisingly kept a clean sheet against highflying Fiorentina, was more than a match for the hosts over the first 45 minutes.
Saved by VAR
The boos got louder on the stroke of half-time whistle, when Slovak Tomas Suslov beat ‘keeper Michele Di Gregorio two minutes into stoppage time. VAR ruled out the goal.
Motta and his toothless team were greeted with boos at the interval for the second home game in a week, but returned to the pitch with more verve and composure.
The opening 10 minutes of the second half saw Muani’s effort easily saved by Lorenzo Montipo, and Yildiz’s shot was unable to even get as far as the shotstopper.
Both strikers fluffed their next chances by steering the ball wide of the goalmouth, with Montipo called into action on the hour-mark to deny Nicolas Gonzalez from heading home Timothy Weah’s telling cross.
Weah was immediately part of a double substitution, replaced by Alberto Costa and Teun Koopmeiners came on for Weah’s USA team-mate Weston McKennie.
Motta gamble paid off
The change didn’t improve the hosts, and on 71 minutes Motta gambled by bringing on AC Milan loanee Pierre Kalulu for Federico Gatti to freshen up the defensive backline.
Within 60 seconds of this change Motta’s gamble paid dividends. Thuram found the bottom right corner from the centre of the box, to finally give the Curva Sud something to cheer about rather than boo.
Ten minutes later Motta brought on the fresh legs of Samuel Mbangula and Vlahovic in a straight swap for the lacklustre duo Yildiz and Muani respectively.
Manuel Locatelli missed three opportunities in 100 seconds to double Juve’s advantage, with Verona visibly tiring.
A swift break on 90 minutes saw Mbangula cleverly release the ball to Koopmeiners, who picked his spot from a tricky angle. He beat Montipo and found the bottom right corner to secure three more precious league points.
Juve leapt over Lazio to reclaim fourth spot in Serie A, and remain as outsiders in the race to win the Scudetto. With 11 games left, the Bianconeri sit just six points behind table-topping Inter Milan and dare to dream of their first league title since the 2019/20 campaign.