26 May 2013
After ending last season as the club’s top Serie A goalscorer with 10 strikes to his name, Alessandro Matri has continued to make an important contribution to the cause, using his predatory intuition to register eight strikes on the way to Juventus’ second consecutive Scudetto triumph.
While it may not have been the most prolific season of the Lombardy-born striker’s career, Antonio Conte’s preferred policy of rotating his frontmen compels the chosen pairing to seize their opportunities whenever called upon.
And, statistically speaking, none have staked a more convincing claim for a permanent starting berth than Matri.
Boasting the best goals-to-minutes ratio of the entire side - one every 125 minutes – the 28-year-old has also demonstrated his accuracy when pulling the trigger, hitting the target with 55.6% of his overall 27 attempts on goal.
Whilst the resounding stats could push people into believing that Matri is a mere poacher, think again.
His clever movement in the box, as witnessed when he spun away from Andrea Ranocchia before slamming home at the San Siro, or sublime control and finish past Andrea Consigli in Bergamo, show that his abilities in the final third should be underestimated at your peril.
