MATTHIJS DE LIGT has admitted that Juventus struggled without 30-goal-a-season Cristiano Ronaldo before Dusan Vlahovic’s arrival.
Juve had a poor start to the season after Ronaldo’s departure for Manchester United and found themselves battling for fourth spot with Atalanta.
Juve lost 30-plus goals when Ronaldo left in the summer Credit: AP
Vlahovic joined in January and has four goals in six games Credit: GETTY The responsibility was then shifted back onto Paulo Dybala, who before Ronaldo arrived in Turin, was Juve’s main man.
Dybala has ten goals and six assists to his name this term.
On Ronaldo’s departure, centre-back De Ligt said: “We took a hit because we lost 30 goals all of a sudden.
“We could not sign somebody like Dusan Vlahovic because there was not enough time.”
Ronaldo has continued his fine goal scoring form at Man Utd, netting 15 goals in 31 games.
The 37-year-old finds himself frustrated and isolated in some games though with the team on a turbulent run of form.
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But in the January transfer window, Juve splashed the cash on highly rated forward Dusan Vlahovic.
The Serbian international was on red hot form for former club Fiorentina when he was snapped up by the Old Lady for a fee just over £60million.
He has since scored four in six games for Juve.
On needing Vlahovic’s goals, De Ligt said: “As for the newcomer, I saw that he was very technically sound when I faced him.
“His determination to score really impressed me. We needed somebody like him up front.”
Juventus now find themselves just seven points off first place and they’re on the hunt to reclaim their crown off Inter Milan.
On Juve’s resurgence in form and firing themselves back into the title picture, De Ligt said: “A few weeks back, we were 14 points behind the first position.
“We had stopped thinking about it and zeroed in on qualifying for the Champions League.
“We have been gaining some ground since then, as Inter, Milan, and Napoli slowed down, and we cut the gap in half.
“It would take a miracle for us to win, but the situation is a lot better than 13 games ago.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
