Juventus Top UCL Group, but Paulo Dybala Return Is Their Biggest Boost

Despite being held scoreless in the first half, Juventus will have enjoyed their final Champions League outing of the calendar year. Running out 2-0 winners at home against Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday, the Bianconeri clinched top spot in Group H ahead of Sevilla and Olympique Lyonnais.

While the results elsewhere mean they could still be handed a tough opponent in the last 16, this 2-0 win was also hugely beneficial in other ways.

Coach Massimiliano Allegri went into this clash without his trio of star defenders, with the BBC unit of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini all unable to play from the outset.

In addition, right-back Dani Alves remains sidelined. The Juve boss also opted to rest goalkeeper Gigi Buffon and left-back Alex Sandro, yet his side still kept a clean sheet. That should be a huge boost to the team’s collective confidence, as should the performances of some other key figures further up the pitch.

Mario Mandzukic continued the excellent form he showed in the win over Atalanta, a performance discussed at length in this previous post. The Croatia international worked tirelessly, as always, but his quality and determination also led to the creation of a number of openings for those around him.

His partnership with Gonzalo Higuain has been difficult to watch at times, but they have finally begun to click, and it was the former Napoli man who broke the deadlock at Juventus Stadium after 52 minutes.

Mario Lemina—given a rare start as Sami Khedira was also rested—tried to fight his way through a crowd of Dinamo defenders before the ball fell to Higuain just inside the penalty area.

He made no mistake, rifling an unstoppable shot beyond goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic. The strike ended a seven-game drought in all competitions for Higuain, who was clearly delighted to be back on the scoresheet.

Shortly after the final whistle, the Argentinian said, per Juve’s official website:

"

All strikers want to score goals, so of course I'm happy to get one tonight.

When you're not sticking them away you need to help the team in other ways and that's what I tried to do in this spell when we've been without Paulo Dybala. I've moved a bit further away from the area I was used to playing in.

"

Daniel Rugani added a second goal for the Bianconeri just over 20 minutes later. The defender headed home from a Miralem Pjanic corner, just as he did in the aforementioned victory over Atalanta, sealing all three points.

That goal punctuated another fine display from the 22-year-old, who was holding together Allegri’s makeshift back line. According to WhoScored.com, he ended the match with one interception and one clearance, but he also kept the ball moving with some intelligent distribution.

He attempted 95 passes and connected with 89.5 per cent of them, a huge leap for a player who has made an average of just 52.4 passes per game in Serie A this term and a further indicator of Rugani’s growing maturity.

While the fact he, Medhi Benatia and Patrice Evra were able to shut out their opponents on this occasion was important, the biggest bonus for the home side arguably came via a substitution with just 10 minutes remaining.

The anticipation of the crowd was palpable as Pjanic made his way off the pitch, and it reached a crescendo as Paulo Dybala replaced him. The 23-year-old had been out of action since October 22, suffering a thigh injury as he attempted an audacious long-range shot against AC Milan.

Allegri has been cautious in nursing him back to fitness, omitting him from the squad against Atalanta to ensure Dybala was available for Juve’s tough upcoming fixtures, which the coach was already focusing on in his post-match interviews.

"We won't be thinking about our next Champions League matches or even our last-16 opponents," Allegri told reporters at his press conference. "Now it's time for us to focus on the league and then the Super Cup."

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In their three games before the winter break, Juve will face a derby clash with neighbours Torino, a tough encounter at home against AS Roma and then a trip to Qatar for the Supercoppa Italiana meeting with AC Milan.

With that in mind, Dybala's return could not have come at a better time. The young Argentina international has become a vital component in this Juventus side, a player they simply cannot afford to be without.

Blessed with wonderful technique, a fierce, fiery determination that constantly drives him forward and a sublime left foot, Dybala’s importance cannot be understated. Mandzukic and Higuain have—like the team around them—struggled without the former Palermo man’s creativity, with the attack often becoming stale.

According to WhoScored.com, only Pjanic (3.1) and Alex Sandro (2.3) create more clear goalscoring opportunities per game than Dybala’s average (2), and he quickly set about making up for lost time.

Despite his limited playing time, the FourFourTwo Stats Zone graphic above shows that Dybala managed three shots, testing the goalkeeper with one effort while another was deflected narrowly over the bar.

His passing was as sharp and incisive as usual, and he also beat the one defender he attempted to dribble past and recovered the ball twice. It was a short but telling run-out, one the man himself was clearly glad to have made as he looks to help Juventus in the coming weeks.

"I couldn't wait to get back out there," he explained, per Juve's official website. "I felt ready for it, as I've been putting a lot of intensity into my training. I might not have 90 minutes in me yet, but I'm match fit. I'd felt no issues in the last few days, and I felt none out there today, either."

His improvement since joining the club in the summer of 2015 is only surpassed by the boost his presence always appears to give the team, with Allegri in little doubt as to just how good his star striker can become.

"Dybala is an extraordinary player, and he can also get better," the coach told reporters in England back in August, per FourFourTwo. "He will become one of the world's top three players."

Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images

That optimism was well-placed after a debut campaign in Turin that saw Dybala net 23 goals in all competitions. He has already bagged four this term. He still needs to work on his understanding with Higuain, and Juve need to be more cutthroat in attack overall, but the prospect of the Argentinian duo on form in the same team is a frightening one for upcoming opponents.

The younger man is back in action and ready to contribute, as he proved against Dinamo Zagreb. You have been warned.