Juve have quality to challenge for Champions League crown – Dybala

Paulo Dybala insisted Juventus are determined to “go all the way” in the Champions League after his late brace kept them on course for the knockout stages.

Dybala scored twice in two minutes as Serie A champions Juventus came from behind to defeat Lokomotiv Moscow 2-1 in in Tuesday’s Group D clash in Turin.

It leaves Juve level with Atletico Madrid on seven points following their respective victories on matchday three and Maurizio Sarri’s side are yet to taste defeat in all competitions this season.

Having secured eight successive Serie A titles, the Champions League is very much viewed as the holy grail for the Bianconeri – who have not won the competition since 1996 and were dumped out in the quarter-finals by Ajax last season.

Dybala – who struck in the 77th and 79th minute – admitted European success is a major target this season, given the squad at their disposal.

“We are a team with great experience and we are eager to go all the way in this competition,” Dybala said. 

“I think we have enough quality to do more than we did in recent years.

“I’m very happy, I really needed two goals like this. It was a difficult game but you could really see the level of experience of our team. We always remained calm until we finally scored.”

BOOM #ucl #finoallafine #JuveLokomotiv pic.twitter.com/ykcZF2Tw91

— Paulo Dybala (@PauDybala_JR) October 22, 2019

Sarri introduced Gonzalo Higuain from the bench early in the second half alongside Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo in a bid to turn the match around after Juve trailed to Aleksey Miranchuk’s first-half goal.

“Now we won and you all say that we can play together. But if we were losing, the opinions would have been completely different,” Dybala said.

“I just say that we need to keep working hard as we are doing. The coach has his own ideas and we fully trust him.”

Juve head coach Sarri added: “It became a difficult game when we conceded that goal, but we did well not to lose our heads and then take more risks with more offensive players. We knew we could find a way back into the game.

“It was not an exceptional day, but we play every three days so a day like this can happen.”

It was a tough result to stomach for Lokomotiv boss Yuri Semin, whose side defended resolutely until Dybala’s fine curling effort broke their resistance.

“Of course, we are disappointed that we couldn’t take anything out of what was a good game for us,” Semin said.

“But it was logical – we didn’t have enough strength in the end. I didn’t make substitutions in the hope that we would survive the final push from Juve, but we didn’t.”