His 5-Year Drought Over, Carlos Tevez Finally Shines for Juventus in Europe

Before Tuesday, locating Carlos Tevez's last Champions League goal would have taken one back into the 2008-09 season, when the Argentine found the back of the net in Manchester United's quarter-final first leg against Porto. 

Barely two months later, the striker was off to Manchester City, and after failing to score in European club football's most prestigious competition for the Sky Blues (indeed, his most memorable Champions League moment at the club was his scuffle with then-manager Roberto Mancini), he was jettisoned to Juventus, where his drought extended through last season's group stage. 

It wasn't until Tuesday's 2-0 win at home to Malmo in the Bianconeri's 2014-15 European curtain-raiser that Tevez finally broke his duck, and an old one at that. 

In the 59th minute of what, to that point, was a 0-0 draw, the 30-year-old ran onto Kwadwo Asamoah's imaginative, back-heeled pass and proceeded to slam the ball past the desperate, flailing arm of outstretched goalkeeper Robin Olsen. 

Then, as if to ensure his first Champions League goal in nearly five-and-a-half years hadn't been a fluke, he doubled the hosts' advantage in the 90th minute with a free-kick that took a slight deflection en route to goal. 

Then came the robot celebration. 

"My daughter asked me to do that dance in the Udinese game, but I forgot and when I got home she wouldn't talk to me," he told Sky Italia, per Football Italia. 

Three days before the Malmo encounter, Tevez had opened the scoring against Udinese, and he would add an assist and complete an eye-popping 98 percent of his passes until being withdrawn in the 82nd minute (statistics courtesy WhoScored.com). 

On the back of such a performance, it was perhaps inevitable that the 2008 Champions League winner would score on Tuesday although, as he told reporters after the match, the drought was never something he thought about. 

"I truly did not miss it," he said when asked by Sky Italia if the drought had bothered him, according to Football Italia. 

He also addressed his play so far this season in which he has been so involved in well near everything Juventus have created in the attacking third. 

"I am getting into deeper positions, but this is also a problem as I cannot reach the goal. I need to improve on that," he said. 

Tevez underlined his importance to Juventus by scoring 21 goals in his first season with the club, including 19 in Serie A. But his inability to replicate that form in the Champions League was a primary reason for the club's exit at the group stage last December. 

Again part of a winnable bracket, the Bianconeri will nevertheless need their best forward to help carry them into the knockout rounds of this season's tournament.

Early returns suggest he's up to the challenge.