Juventus' Stephan Lichtsteiner Compares Favourably vs. Europe's Best Right-Backs

Stephan Lichtsteiner has been a superb player for Juventus, the Swiss international having helped the Bianconeri win the Serie A title in each of his four seasons with the club. Arriving from fellow Italian side Lazio in the summer of 2011, he has proved to be excellent value for the €10 million fee paid by the Turin giants.

If the club can clinch a fifth-consecutive Scudetto next term, Lichtsteiner would become a member of only the third team ever to achieve that feat, following in the footsteps of Juve’s 1930s' side and the Torino team that dominated the following decade.

Making a major contribution to that success, the question of whether the 31-year-old should be seen among the world’s best at his position is raised, given he maintains an incredible level of consistency every time he steps on the field.

Paul White/Associated Press

With that in mind, what follows is a comparison between Lichtsteiner and his contemporaries in the right-back role. Dani Alves of Barcelona, Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic and Real Madrid star Daniel Carvajal are often touted as Europe’s best, while Danilo—who has joined Real Madrid from Porto—has also been included.

The latter has already made 14 appearances for Brazil and won seven major honours, a tally he will clearly hope to add to at the Santiago Bernabeu. Eldest of the five men, Alves leads the way in this department, lifting no fewer than 29 trophies throughout his career, which puts him far ahead of Lichtsteiner’s tally of 10 as well as Ivanovic (9) and Carvajal (6).

In terms of individual statistics—which appear courtesy of WhoScored.com, unless otherwise stated—the first category analysed was tackling. That site's figures show Alves again as the front-runner, averaging 4.1 per game in 2014/15, which ranked fifth among all players across Europe’s top five leagues.

Carvajal made an impressive 2.9 himself, with Ivanovic (2.3), Danilo (2.1) and Lichtsteiner (1.3) unable to better those tallies. However, the graphic below—created using the comparison matrix from Squawka—highlights three important defensive statistics at which the Juve man excels.

Squawka.com

Unfortunately, Squawka does not cover the Portuguese Liga, meaning €31.5 million man Danilo could not be included here. Winning a higher percentage of battles while committing fewer fouls and making no defensive errors shows just how reliable Lichtsteiner has become, now integral to a Juve back line that kept an incredible 19 clean sheets in Serie A last term.

The full-back is no less impressive at the other end of the field, weighing in with three goals and five assists in his 26 league starts. Ivanovic scored once more and matched Lichtsteiner’s tally of assists, while Danilo netted on six occasions and Carvajal failed to get his name on the scoresheet.

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

Carvajal also created three goals, a figure Alves bettered with six, and it is no surprise to see the Barcelona man also leads the way here too in what is a key weapon for any player in this role. He connected with an average of 1.2 crosses per game for Barcelona, but Lichtsteiner is comfortably second, as his 0.8 per game is exactly double the tally managed by Carvajal, Danilo and Ivanovic (all 0.4).

However, at 1.85 metres tall, the Chelsea star—who is slightly taller than Danilo (1.84 metres)—leads all five men in terms of headers won with 2.6 per game. That hints at his ability to also play in central defence, with Lichtsteiner (1.2) again second ahead of Alves (0.9), Danilo (0.9) and Carvajal (0.7).

While he may trail the slightly older Alves in terms of crosses, trophies won and tackles made, Lichtsteiner has the edge in other areas that mark him out as perhaps a better defender without sacrificing too much in the way of offensive input.

He will undoubtedly be ready to help Juventus clinch that record-equalling fifth league title next season and etch his name into the rich history of Italian football’s grand old lady. “Lifting a trophy shows how hard you worked,” the Swiss star told me in an interview with the Independent, “and remembering it gives you the energy and motivation to do it again!”