A remarkable comeback from Juventus, with a pair of very ate goals, earned a valuable point from their 4-4 home draw against Borussia Dortmund, which kicked off their Champions League campaign in style.
Having snatched an added time victory in last weekend's gripping Derby d'Italia Serie A clash against Inter Milan, which finished 4-3, Juve served up another goal feast.
In-form Dusan Vlahovic bagged a brace, and set up Lloyd Kelly's equalizer in the 96th minute to earn a share of the spoils for the majority of the Allianz Stadium to erupt. Once again there were rare smiles from Juve manager Igor Tudor.
Vlahovic, who appeared as as substitute on the hour-mark, has netted four times after arriving off the bench already this term to become the ultimate supersub in Italian soccer.
The Turin titans, who have picked up three Serie A wins on the bounce, extended their unbeaten European streak to 15 games when they have played their opener in Turin.
Borussia Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac admitted in the post-match press conference: “It was nerve-wracking. I have to pay the team a compliment for playing so well in front of such passionate fans and performing so well in the first half.
"We didn't create much going forward, but we controlled the game. Before the second half, we said: We need to get into the final third more and take shots at goal. The guys did a great job of that. The last four minutes weren't good. That's what hurts so much, but compliments to the boys nonetheless.”
The German Bundlesliga side were missing Aaron Anselmino, Emre Can, Julien Duranville, Pascal Gross, Nico Schlotterbeck, Fabio Silva and Niklas Sule.
Juve kicked off with aplomb
The Bianconeri began with promise. Shotstopper Gregor Kobel sent Khephren Thuram's early effort for a corner, which Kelly skied over the target with a poor header.
Lois Openda's cheeky backheel from Kenan Yildiz's corner, midway through the opening half, ended up in the side netting instead of beating Kobel. The Belgian completed Juve's first half chances, but overworked Kobel was equal to the danger.
No one could have predicted the fireworks following a scoreless 45 minutes, and the Allianz Stadium was soon stunned into silence when Karim Adeyemi made the early second-half breakthrough against the run of play.
Yildiz's long-range curler soared past Kobel for a 64th-minute leveller to start the flurry of goals. Felix Nmecha restored the lead for the German giants, which was soon cancelled out by Vlahovic, who was wonderfully set up by livewire Yildiz.
Juventus caught napping
Depleted Dortmund stepped through the gears and were all over Juventus like a rash. Yan Couto snatched a 74th-minute lead when keeper Michele Di Gregorio should have easily stopped the effort. He was beaten again, four minutes from the end of regular time, when Ramy Bensebaini converted his penalty following a Lloyd handball decision.
Added time was when Juve showed their resilience for the second match on the spin, having beaten Inter courtesy of a stoppage time strike three days earlier.
Vlahovic was the late hero. The Serbia star turned in Pierre Kalulu pass to bag his brace in the 94th minute, and two minutes later turned from scorer to goal provider for Kelly's diving header that made the evening for the industrious team, their no nonsense coach and legion of fans.
The result meant that Juventus became the first team to avoid Champions League defeat after trailing by two goals so late in a match.
Tudor praises fighting spirit
Tudor explained during the post-match press conference: "At half-time I saw some tired players, I congratulate the lads because, at this moment, they couldn't have done any more.
"The last two games have been special, against important teams. Everyone who comes on does so with great spirit, which means a lot to a manager.
"The result is decided at the end, so the players who finish the game are very important. We’re working on the team's mentality every day in training. It's a great feeling to see that we never give up."