How Dusan Vlahovic compares to Cristiano Ronaldo from last season

Cristiano Ronaldo departed Juventus last summer after three seasons with the Italian club and they went ahead and replaced him in the January transfer window with Dusan Vlahovic.

Now wearing the number seven shirt for Juve, the 22-year-old is expected to be their figurehead for years to come and he’s already managed to hit the ground running.  

The Serbian striker made his £62million move from Fiorentina earlier this year as one of the most in-demand strikers in world football, but how do his stats rack up against CR7’s from last season? 

 

Shooting 

There’s no doubting Ronaldo’s elite goalscoring record whilst he was in Italy as he managed to score 81 goals in 98 Serie A appearances.  

Despite Juventus struggling last season, Ronaldo finished the 20/21 season as the league's top scorer with 29 goals from an xG of 26.5 - an overperformance of 2.5 goals.  

While Vlahovic hasn’t quite managed to match Ronaldo’s total output for the season just yet, he’s actually been more clinical with the chances he has taken.  

Throughout the 21/22 season for both Fiorentina and Juventus, Vlahovic has scored 20 goals from an xG of 14.4 - an overperformance of 5.6 goals.  

Last season Ronaldo averaged 5.2 shots per 90 and 1.93 shots on target per 90.  

Whilst playing for Fiorentina in the first half of the season, Vlahovic was taking just 3.34 shots per 90 and having 1.31 shots on target. Since his January move, these numbers have started to go up, with him now taking 4.2 shots per 90 and 2.62 shots on target.  

Replacing Ronaldo was always going to be difficult, but it looks as if Juventus have landed the perfect replacement in Vlahovic. Ronaldo’s goal output last season was among the best in Europe as he averaged 0.93 goals per 90 and Vlahovic isn’t too far behind at the moment as he’s been averaging 0.83 goals per 90.  

 

Work off the ball 

As Ronaldo is now in his late 30’s an area of his game that critics like to point out is his work off the ball or lack of it.  

For Juventus, last season Ronaldo averaged 1.96 successful pressures per 90, which was the lowest number for a Juventus outfield player last season.  

So far for Juventus Vlahovic has averaged 3.68 successful pressures per 90, an increase of 1.72 from Ronaldo last season.  

When taking pressing stats into consideration though, it does have to be mentioned that Juventus have changed managers since last season from Andrea Pirlo to Massimiliano Allegri. Under Pirlo, Juventus ranked 10th in the league for successful presses and this season they have jumped up to 7th under Allegri.  

 

 

Creativity 

Ronaldo in his later years and Vlahovic are both seen as the focal points for their sides, but it is also worth looking into their creative numbers to see what else they bring to the table aside from goalscoring.  

When it comes to shot-creating actions Ronaldo does lead in this regard. Throughout the 20/21 season, he averaged 3.66 shot-creating actions per 90, which beats Vlahovic who averages 2.62.  

While Ronaldo no longer relies on his dribbling ability, he does still beat Vlahovic in this area. Last season at Juventus Ronaldo averaged 1.86 successful dribbles per 90, compared to Vlahovic who averages 0.78 dribbles per 90.  

Both players offer an aerial threat when going forward, Ronaldo scored seven headed goals last season and so far, Vlahovic has scored two. The Serbian striker does win more aerial duels though with 2.8 aerial duels won per 90 compared to Ronaldo’s 0.7.