Perfect Juventus took charge of the first leg of their Quarter-final tie with Barcelona, courtesy of a commanding first-leg display that saw Paulo Dybala score a brace in Turin.
The Argentine forward curled home both of his goals before the break, the first from an angle inside the box and the second from a central position on the edge.
Juve turned a dominant lead into one that should see them go on and win the tie when Giorgio Chiellini showed strength and guile to steer home a header from a corner.
However, after their record-breaking achievement to overturn that deficit against PSG, they will retain hope heading into the return leg at the Nou Camp on Wednesday, 19 April.
The opening 20 minutes were a lesson in high-pressing, aggressive play that created a clear headed opening for Gonzalo Higuain to spurn before paying off through Dybala’s two strikes.
The remaining 70 minutes saw Juve retain a high work-rate but with the luxury of strategically selecting their moments to counter attack.
This approach twice set up Higuain for shots that were saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen before more lax defending – this time from Javier Mascherano, who had been moved to centre-back from midfield at half-time – allowed Chiellini to head home from a corner.
The win means Juve, who have won their last 32 Serie A home games, are now undefeated in 18 European games in Turin.
With the second-best defence of any side in Europe’s top-five leagues and having gone 441 Champions League minutes without conceding, the Italians are well-equipped to avoid wilting under second-leg pressure in Spain.
