Juve, Vlahovic is the man of the Flash goals record in the Champions League debut

Like Van Basten and Del Piero yesterday, Ibrahimovic and Benzema among today’s champions Neither Ronaldo nor Messi scored in the opening match, Haaland made three

Torino

A lightning. Thirty-two seconds to throw the first ball touched in the Champions League into the goal. A perfect movement, as a pure striker, nothing to do for Albiol who is not the latest arrival.

Dusan Vlahovic presented himself in this way, at the age of twenty-two, on the most important international stage: in Belgrade, a teenager, he had earned a clipping in the Europa League preliminaries, on Tuesday evening in Vila-Real he had the real European baptism and did not disappoint. He is the man of records, on the other hand, every step a trace: the youngest rookie in the history of Partizan, the youngest player ever deployed in the derby with the Red Star, the first Millennial to take the field with Fiorenitna, immediately on target in the opening of the championship with Juventus, who scored 22 goals in 29 games this season.

Comparisons are inevitable. With the Juventus of yesterday, with the champions of all times. Before him, fifteen of them celebrated with a goal the night they discovered the Champions League and many left their footprints: from Alessandro del Piero and Antonio Conte, protagonists in the same match, to David Trezeguet. Of course, no one as quick as he is. And many facilitated by the impact with soft opponents in the groups, the Staeaua Bucarest of Ravanelli or the Feyenoord of Inzaghi and Birindelli. He certainly did not meet a top club, but he tasted the thrill of the Cup in the second round, with a team recently embraced and of which he is about to become a reference, heir not only for Ronaldo’s jersey number. Who did not score in his debut against Inter with Sporting Lisbon (he waited 14 games), just like Leo Messi launched on the field of Shakhtar Donetsk from Barcelona (he scored in the fourth game), Lewandowski (in the third) and Mbappè (in the fourth ).

On the other hand, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (double on 17 September 2002 with Ajax against Lyon: 2-1 final), Karim Benzema (6 December 2005: a goal in Lyon-Rosenborg 2-1) and the other jewel in 2000, the other predestined, Erling Haaland: hat-trick, even on 17 September 2019, Salzburg-Genk 6-2.

Predestined, rummaging through the past other tests emerge: from the double exultation of Marco Van Basten on September 16, 1992 (Milan-Olimpia Lubiana 4-0) to the triple of Tino Asprilla on September 17, 1997 in Newcastle-Barcelona 3-2.

Vlahovic is therefore part of a winning trend, the future belongs to him, and now that he too hangs out in the great Europe, the generational head-to-head with Haaland will be even more fascinating. In the meantime, he is preparing to follow up in the national events, in which he is the top scorer: on Saturday he will seek continuity in the league in Empoli, on Wednesday he will try to reconnect the thread of the Italian Cup to the Franchi who was his home, in an incandescent atmosphere, because Florence did not goodbye forgiven.

It was he who dragged Juve to the semifinals, breaking even with Sassuolo in extremis: he didn’t score, but it’s as if he did. With an overwhelming action. From predestined. –