Dusan Vlahovic has now gone five Juventus games without a goal (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus … [+]
Once again, Juventus ended a game with a draw, this time held to a 0-0 stalemate in a UEFA Champions League meeting with Club Bruges at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Belgium.
It seemed the Bianconeri had turned the corner at the weekend, running out 2-0 winners against AC Milan, only to slip to yet another draw – their 15th in all competitions this season – in a game they were heavily favoured to win.
According to figures taken from WhoScored.comJuve dominated the ball against Bruges, enjoying 57.2% possession. Yet they mustered very little to trouble Nicky Hayen’s side, having just five shots on goal over the 90+ minutes and only managing to get one of them on target.
Lack of goals frustrates Juventus boss
Their profligacy has been a constant theme throughout the campaign, with Juve’s tally of 34 goals after 21 rounds of Serie A action way below their expected return. It has been a similar story in the Champions League where, after netting six times in the first two outings, they have scored just three times in the subsequent five matches.
That lack of cutting edge clearly frustrated Thiago Motta, with the Coach using his post-game interview with Sky Italia to make it clear he expects much more impact from his attacking players.
“Finally, we are starting to get some players back from injury, above all in attack,” the Coach said shortly after the final whistle. “We started with Samuel Mbangula, Nico Gonzalez and Timothy Weah, then Kenan Yildiz, Dusan Vlahovic and Francisco Conceicao came on.
“I will also add Randal Kolo Muani who will be with us in the league, but these are all players who need to give us something more. Our forwards are the ones who at the moment have to contribute more to the team.”
It is worth noting that Vlahovic is the team’s leading scorer in all competitions this term, yet the Serbia international has bagged just 12 times in 25 appearances. It must also be noted that five of those goals came from the penalty spot, while the last time his name was on the score sheet was six games ago back on December 17th.
He will now also find much more competition for his spot, Juventus close to completing a loan move for PSG forward Randal Kolo Muani. That should help the Bianconeri become more lethal up front, although some analysts believe the issue lies with the team’s build up play being too safe.
“I understand not wanting to take risks in front of the defence, but in the final third you can’t play it too neatly,” Paolo Di Canio said of the match on Sky Sport Italia. “They’re missing that one-on-one play upfront and then the killer ball.
“In the last 25-30 meters, Juventus are playing it too tidy, and they become predictable unless Mbangula, Yildiz, or Conceição manage to create something out of nothing.”
Thiago Motta will hope that changes soon, because the current spate of draws is a direct result of Juventus forwards not scoring enough goals.