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Who is Alvaro Morata? Well, soon he could be a legend. In only his second season with Juventus, the 22-year-old Spanish striker has already carved his name into Juventus’ record books.
He netted his fifth goal in five consecutive Champions League matches for Juventus, tying the record set by legendary striker Alessandro Del Piero in 1995-96.
5 - Alvaro Morata has found the net in each of his last 5 Champions League appearances and 7 goals in his last 9 games in the #UCL. Bomber
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) September 30, 2015"Obviously doing what a legend of football like Del Piero has done in the past is a reason of pride for me," Morata told UEFA.com after Juventus’s 2-0 victory over Sevilla Wednesday. "I'm proud, but I don't want to stop here. I want to keep working hard to help the team winning and to score more goals."
Photo: @SuperSportTV | Twitter
Interestingly enough, Morata’s five-match scoring streak started last season in the first leg of Juventus’ semifinal clash against Morata’s former club, Real Madrid.
Morata also scored the game-tying goal that disqualified Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu during the second leg. The third goal of his streak came in the Champions League final against Barcelona. His fourth goal was the winning score against Manchester City in their Champions League debut this season. The fifth came this week when he scored on a header against Sevilla.
Despite being only 22, Morata already has a pair of Champions League finals on his résumé. His first trip to Europe’s biggest stage was in 2014 playing for his hometown team Real Madrid, when they defeated arch-rivals Atletico Madrid in a championship match for the ages. Morata entered the game and contributed to Madrid’s win despite not scoring during that occasion.
In his second trip to the Champions League final, Morata failed to lift Juventus past Luis Enrique’s Barcelona. The Spanish international left his mark on the score sheet with a rebound goal in the 55 minute, but Luis Suarez and Neymar lifted Barcelona to the title.
During his time in Madrid, Morata didn’t really have the opportunity to break into the starting XI since his opponent for the spot was Karim Benzema. In Turin on the other hand, the young player quickly got himself in the mix. Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri started rotating Morata and Fernando Llorente from game to game in the Serie A to play next to Carlos Tevez.
On the Champions League, however, Allegri took a different approach. Perhaps the manager felt that the continental competition was where his young player could shine brighter.
Whatever his reasoning was, it worked. Midway through the group stage Allegri put his money on Morata and gave him a spot on the starting team.
Morata had some good games in the group stage, but it wasn’t until Juventus’s last 16 matchup against Borussia Dortmund that Morata proved that the Champions League was his home. He scored a goal in each leg and also contributed with an assist in the 2-1 first leg win to lead his squad past Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund.
On the dangerous quarter-finals clash against Monaco, Morata suffered the crucial penalty that Arturo Vidal scored to put Juventus through.
In the semifinal against Madrid, Morata was the difference maker, as the striker scored once in each leg and Juventus took down Madrid 3-2 on aggregate. He proved that the Champions League is where he shines, and where he wants to keep shining.
Morata already has his name on Juventus’s record books next to Del Piero, but he will have the chance to surpass the Bianconeri legend with a goal against Borussia Mönchengladbach on October 21, just two days before his birthday.
