Dusan Vlahovic scored from open play for the first time in nine matches for club and country with his most recent goal for the Serbian national team against Lithuania on Saturday evening.
Vlahovic has only scored twice in his previous nine outings for Juventus, with his last goal from open play coming in the Europa League playoff first leg against Nantes on February 16.
The Serbian’s last goal also came in the Europa League, from the penalty spot in the Round of 16 second leg against Freiburg at the Allianz Stadium.
His last goal from open play in Serie A dates all the way back to 1-0 Derby della Mole win over Torino on October 15, 2022.
With four goals from his last six outings with the national team, Vlahovic is scoring at a rate of one goal every game and a half.
Over his entire career with his country, Vlahovic has scored once every 100 minutes, thanks to his 11 goals from 20 outings.
For the Bianoneri, Vlahovic’s record currently stands at 20 in 49 appearances across all competitions, equalling a goal every 192 minutes.
Gazzetta dello Sport cites that one of the reasons behind his more consistent success with the national team comes down to the difference in shape and personnel available to the Serbian team compared to the current Juve set-up.
The Italian outlet writes that Serbia often line up in a 3-4-1-2 under current manager Dragan Stojkovic, with Vlahovic regularly featuring upfront alongside fellow centre-forward Alexsandar Mitrovic.
Behind them usually lies the reliable provider Dusan Tadic, who usually acts as a playmaker in the position directly behind the two forwards.
Effectively, it is clear that Vlahovic prefers to play up front in a classic strike partnership.
In fact, his goalscoring record stands at 10 from 25 games for Juventus when he has played alongside Alvaro Morata, Arkadiusz Milik or Moise Kean.
When he has played up front with Angel Di Maria, Federico Chiesa or Paulo Dybala, his record improves to 10 from 19 games.
Largely due to injuries to Massimiliano Allegri’s first team, particularly to the likes of Milk and Chiesa, Chiesa has had to lead the line as Juve’s sole striker on a number of occasions in recent games.
Additionally, Gazzetta describes how Stojkovic’s philosophy revolves around attacking output, compared to Allegri’s more conservative approach at times.
Either way, Allegri could take inspiration from Stojkovic and the way he plays to Vlahovic’s strengths if he is to get the best form out of the Serbian for the remainder of the season.
Because Lord Hexagon