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Juventus kicked off their UEFA Champions League 2020-21 campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv as striker Alvaro Morata bagged a brace in absence of Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Andrea Pirlo registered a win in his first game in charge of the club in the Champions League as the Italian giants maintained control over the game throughout the 90 minutes.
Heorhiy Bushchan put in an inspired performance between the sticks for Dynamo Kyiv and produced some remarkable saves in the first half to deny Federico Chiesa and Dejan Kulusevski from close range.
However, it merely took seconds after the restart for Juventus to break the deadlock as Aaron Ramsey and Kulusevski combined well in the final third to find Morata, who scored with his first sight on goal.
Dynamo Kyiv rarely threatened Juventus as most of their moves going forward fizzled out before reaching the visitors' box. The Old Lady sealed the outcome of the game after Morata secured his second goal with a fine header from Juan Cuadrado's right-wing cross.
Here, we take a look at the five talking points from the game as Pirlo defeats his former boss Mircea Lucescu.
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#5 Mounting injury concerns for Juventus
Juventus have seen a lot of players on the treatment table since the beginning of the campaign. The injury concerns for the Serie A giants are unlikely to go away anytime soon as captain Giorgio Chiellini picked up a fresh hip injury in their win over Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday night.
The veteran defender limped off in the 19th minute of the game, possibly due to a hip flex that might be a result of the recent international fixtures. Pirlo also confirmed that forward Paulo Dybala, who made an appearance from the bench, is not a 100% fit.
Cristiano Ronaldo remains unavailable for their upcoming fixtures as he is in self-isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, and so is Weston McKennie. Matthijs De Ligt has resumed partial training but still needs time before he can mark his return. Giorgio Chiellini is also said to be unavailable.
With a big game against Barcelona coming up next week, Pirlo will be hoping that he does not have to deal with any new injury concerns in the upcoming fixtures.
Also check out: Complete Champions League Results and live Scores 2020/21
#4 Impressive performances from the youngsters
Juventus did not have a great game against Dynamo Kyiv but one of the positives that Pirlo can take away from the game was the impressive performances of Federico Chiesa and Dejan Kulusevski.
Pirlo has given both players significant game time so far this season, and they have started to come into their own. Chiesa was particularly effective on the left flank as a wing-back and made multiple threatening runs into the Dynamo box in the first half.
Kulusevski is one of the most exciting players to watch out for in Serie A this season, and the ease with which he performs tricks and flicks to get away from his opponents was truly impressive. He also took most of the corner kicks and delivered some great balls into the box.
#3 Andrea Pirlo wins his first UCL game, defeats his former boss
The game against Dynamo Kyiv was of special significance for Andrea Pirlo, who had lifted the Champions League trophy on two occasions as a player for AC Milan. It was his first game in charge in the elite competition as a manager, and he faced Mircea Lucescu, the coach who had handed him his professional debut as a player at Brescia.
The Juventus manager managed to outwit his former boss on Tuesday and, in doing so, kicked off his journey in the Champions League with a win.
Meanwhile, Lucescu became the oldest coach to take charge of a match in this competition, aged 75 years and 83 days, and will be hoping that all of his experience comes in handy when they take on Ferencvaros next week.
#2 No Cristiano Ronaldo, no problem for Juventus
Juventus appeared to struggle in the early stages of the game in the absence of their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo. They lacked sharpness in front of the goal despite creating as many as six chances in the first 45 minutes. They offered all bark but no bite as Dynamo managed to keep the score at 0-0.
It was only in the second half that the players found their rhythm. They started the half with a bang, scoring the opener within seconds from the kickoff whistle. Aaron Ramsey deserves a lot of credit for setting up the opener as it was his sublime backheel pass that helped Kulusevski take a shot that led to the opener.
Juventus will be without Ronaldo at least for another week and need to adapt to playing without him. With Ramsey pulling the strings behind the front two, Chiesa and Cuadrado providing width and pace down the flanks and Morata acting as a traditional No.9, it can certainly be done.
#1 Alvaro Morata steps up for Juventus
Alvaro Morata, who is in his second stint with Juventus, scored his second and third goal of the season against Dynamo Kyiv to seal the win for the Bianconeri. He found the back of the net in the second game running after he equalised for Juventus in their 1-1 draw against Crotone last week.
The Spanish striker has hit form at just the right time as Juventus are stretched thin in the attacking department.
Morata rejoined Juventus on loan from Atlético Madrid last month and will be hoping to have the same kind of impact he had in his first spell with the club. If he wants to keep his spot under Pirlo once Ronaldo and Dybala return, he will have to maintain his form in the upcoming fixtures.
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