In the first round of the UEFA Champions League group stage, Juventus drew 4-4 with Borussia Dortmund at home in a dramatic late equalizer. After the match, Dušan Vlahović—who scored twice and provided one assist—accepted an interview with camel.live reporters.
You have the ambition, but it’s probably better to avoid letting the game get to this kind of tense situation…
I agree. It all comes down to experience. We’re a young team, but we have to control the game better. We need to learn to read the game, finish it earlier, and not concede right after we score. Every time we score… These two games say a lot—we won two days ago, and we drew this one. But we can learn a lot from this. The important thing is we didn’t lose, and we need to keep going like this.
Could it be that since you score when coming off the bench, Tudor will always keep you on the bench?
I don’t know. Who plays is the coach’s decision, and I’m ready whenever needed. I give my best in training every day and do everything the coach asks of me. It doesn’t matter to me—what’s important is scoring goals. Whether I come off the bench or start, it makes little difference to me.
It seems like you often play your best games when you come on as a substitute…
I’m not sure. I’ve started almost every game in my career and scored a lot of goals. But the situation is different now—there have been a lot of changes with the coach, and he was right today: with five substitutions available, everything is different. We also have a lot of good players. As he said today, there’s no such thing as a “starter” or “substitute” anymore. But I don’t think about these things; I just focus on following the coach’s instructions and doing my best to help the team get good results. As for whether I’m a substitute or a starter… Of course, everyone wants to play, but I respect the coach’s choice and will work hard to make his decision harder next time.
It seems like you always have a drive inside you, ready to burst out at any time.
That’s true. These past few months haven’t been easy for me. There are rumors every day, reports every day. Now I can say: 99% of them are completely untrue. This kind of situation would trouble anyone. But I also found a bit of motivation from it. I have to prove myself every day and stay hungry all the time. I don’t think I’m ever satisfied enough. For example, tonight I scored two goals and provided an assist, but I still wanted a third. I always have high expectations for myself, and it’s this motivation that pushes me forward. After all, I play for a great club—one of the most important teams in the world. I have nothing to complain about. I just need to do my job well, train as hard as I can, and score goals.
“Of course, if a striker doesn’t score—especially when there are high expectations from the outside—it’s normal to face criticism. In the past, when I was younger, this criticism affected me more, which is totally normal. But now I’ve gradually found a balance, and I think I’ve improved. I still have a lot of room to grow. I have to keep working hard, commit myself to the team, and train diligently.”
