Randal Kolo Muani, Juventus' "Puzzle" Completion

COMO, SATURDAY – Only three matches into representing Juventus, Randal Kolo Muani has already made new history in the Italian League. The French striker has completed the "puzzle" of Juventus' gameplay under Coach Thiago Motta, who had minimal goal effectiveness in the first half of this season.

Kolo Muani's two goals secured Juve's 2-1 win over hosts Como, Saturday (8/2/2025) WIB, at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium. Kolo Muani has scored five in his three appearances in the Italian League. He was able to conquer Napoli's goal, then scored a brace against Empoli and Como which resulted in two consecutive wins for Juve in the league since November 2024.

It is undeniable, Kolo Muani has set a new record in the Italian League. He is the first player to score five goals in three consecutive debut games in the top-tier Italian competition since the three-point format was introduced three decades ago, in the 1994-1995 season.

Specifically at Juve, Kolo Muani is the first player to consistently score in the first three matches since Roberto Baggio. Baggio achieved this impressive record in the 1990-1991 season after moving from Fiorentina.

"It's a dream for me. I'm very happy to be here with my new teammates. I'm happy to be at Juve," Kolo Muani, who is on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, told Sky Sport Italia.

He must keep working, goals are an important part of football and strikers have other tasks as well. Each striker has their own character and way to help the team.

Kolo Muani brought Juve back to fourth place at the start of week 24. The result against Como also became the provision of "The Old Lady" ahead of facing the next two crucial matches at the Allianz Arena Stadium. Juve will meet PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League playoff round, Wednesday (12/2/2025) early morning WIB. Next, Juve will host eternal rivals, Inter Milan, Monday (17/2/2025) WIB.

Kolo Muani along with Renato Veiga and Lloyd Kelly, Juve's new trio of players, are already able to defend in the Champions League playoffs. The three of them are a fresh force for Motta's ambition to take Juve as far as possible in Europe's most prestigious club competition.

Motta is confident that Kolo Muani has not yet reached his peak potential. As a result, Motta is optimistic that the 26-year-old striker can have a greater impact for Juve in the remainder of this season.

"He (Kolo Muani) scored a goal, but he can improve too. I like his smile. He has helped the team since his first day with us," Motta was quoted as saying by Tuttosport.

Motta added, "He must keep working, goals are an important part of football and strikers have other tasks as well. Each striker has their own character and way to help the team."

Kolo Muani possesses the skills that are highly needed in Juve's style of play under Motta's guidance. This condition helps Kolo Muani to make an impact more quickly compared to Juve's striker, Dusan Vlahovic.

The first goal against Como showed Kolo Muani's skill in keeping the ball and dribbling to split the opponent's defense. He brought the ball from the final third of the Como defense before beating Como goalkeeper Jean Butez in the 34th minute.

Compared to Vlahovic, Kolo Muani managed to produce 2.06 successful dribbles per game in his first three games with Juve. That number is very disparate compared to 0.40 successful dribbles per game in 19 games that Vlahovic has played in the Italian League this season.

Kolo Muani's high range of play also helps his Juve teammates serve him more easily in attacking situations or positive transitions. Unlike Vlahovic who prefers to be given good passes close to the opponent's goal.

This can be seen from Sofascore's heatmap of Kolo Muani and Vlahovic's movements in the 2024-2025 Italian League. Kolo Muani's movements (reddish orange) are more dominant in the middle line and in front of the opponent's penalty box. Meanwhile, Vlahovic moves mostly in the opponent's penalty box.

In addition, Kolo Muani also proved himself to be more efficient in the opponent's defense. He has scored five goals from only six shots he made. In fact, the five goals were created through his first five shots on target in the Italian League.

Kolo Muani has also equaled Timothy Weah's number of goals in the Italian League. He is only behind the eight goals of Vlahovic who holds the status of Juve's most prolific player in the Italian League this season.

In addition to the quantity of shots, Kolo Muani's sharpness is much better than Vlahovic. That refers to five goals, although only recording 1.84 expected goals (xG). The xG calculation is based on the situation and position of a player when releasing a shot. The further from the goal and the narrower the space, the smaller the xG number.

Meanwhile, Vlahovic scored eight goals from 10.2 xG. The number of xG was produced by Vlahovic from 48 shots. The Serbian striker's shooting accuracy was only 44 percent.

Not only in attacking situations, Kolo Muani's defensive role is also more capable than Vlahovic. Kolo Muani recorded 0.34 successful tackles per game, while Vlahovic only recorded 0.07 successful tackles per match.

In Motta's high defensive block strategy, Kolo Muani is also more useful, producing 1.37 possession wins back in the final third of the opponent's defense per game. For that statistic, Vlahovic only produces 0.69 possession wins per game.

Kolo Muani is determined to maintain his high level of performance consistency with Juve. "It is very important to play to win. After getting three points from a difficult game, we immediately prepare ourselves for the next important game," he said.