Champions League: Juventus' new star Dusan Vlahovic looks to make his mark in UCL debut vs. Villarreal Tuesday
CBSN
The Serbian striker will play for the first time in a UEFA Champions League's match less than a month after arriving
New Juventus signing Dusan Vlahović will play his first Champions League match Tuesday night against Villarreal in the first leg of the Round of 16 (you can catch all the Champions League action on Paramount+). Juventus signed the Serbian striker in January from Fiorentina, paying around €75 million to pry him from Fiorentina. It was a huge deal for both the club and the player, who desperately wanted to join the Bianconeri side after rejecting many clubs last summer and again this winter, including Atletico Madrid and Arsenal. Vlahović now finally has the opportunity to make his debut in Europe's premier club competition. The questoin is, will he have an immediate impact.
Since his arrival in Turin, Vlahović has played four games: three Serie A matches and Coppa Italia's match against Sassuolo. In the first two he scored two goals (vs. Hellas Verona and Sassuolo) but then failed to score in the last two matches against Atalanta and Torino. Especially after Friday's derby against Ivan Juric' team there was some criticism among the press, that blamed Vlahović for the performance (one shot, zero on target).
It was a rough match for the young star to be sure, but throughout his young career Vlahović has always mixed dominant performances with largely indifferent ones (as do most strikers). Friday was his fourth match of the season where he only managed a single shot, doing that three separate ties with Fiorentina. Additionally while his 0.03 xG was his second lowest total in a match this season, it was the fourth time he failed to clear 0.10 xG per match. This stuff can happen, and that's before you take into account the pressures of moving to Juventus.
