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Wednesday night's key names and numbers

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Wednesday night's key names and numbers
Wednesday night's key names and numbers
Wednesday night's key names and numbers

Juventus ticked off their first objective for the 2016/17 campaign last night in style, defeating Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in Turin to top Champions League Group H with 14 points.

Racking up 11 goals, four victories and two draws, the Bianconeri advance to the competition's last 16 as one of a handful of teams to do so undefeated. What's more, they are the only side to win their group and sit top of their respective domestic league.

The key names and numbers behind Wednesday night's comfortable home win are as follows:

KEY NUMBERS

First and foremost, yesterday evening's success over a dogged and determined Dinamo Zagreb ensured that Juve reached the UCL knockout round as group winners for the first time since 2012/13, one point short of their all-time record of 15 set in 2005/06.

While Wednesday's was the Old Lady's first European victory at Juventus Stadium this calendar year after three consecutive draws against Bayern Munich, Sevilla and Lyon, the Italian champions have now gone 20 matches unbeaten on home turf in UEFA competitions.

Massimiliano Allegri's 2016 vintage still remain quite a way short of their 1989 counterparts however; topping their tally of 31 consecutive positive results will take at least another couple of seasons.

As for the game itself, Juventus rarely let proceedings slip from their grasp despite a spirited and well-organised first-half performance from the visitors. Dominating from start to finish, the home side enjoyed 64.3 per cent possession, racking up a total of 18 shots, eight of which were on target.

KEY NAMES

Beginning from the very back, Allegri's decision to rest Gianluigi Buffon produced one of the most unexpectedly striking statistics of the night: Neto's UCL debut meant that the Bianconeri contested a Champions League fixture without Buffon for the first time since December 2008, Alex Manninger his replacement that day.

At the very front, there was to be a very productive evening for Gonzalo Higuain, the Argentine netting the all-important first goal of the game on 52 minutes, his tenth of the season in 20 appearances, and third in five in Europe.

Joining Pipita on the scoresheet was Daniele Rugani, whose fine near-post header made it two strikes in the space of four days for the young defender.

Supplying the corner for Rugani's well-timed run and jump? Miralem Pjanic of course. Three assists in two outings now for the Bosnian who remains top of his team's creative charts (five goals, six assists).

As voted by supporters on Twitter, the appearance of a certain Paulo Dybala was the standout highlight of the night.

Pulling on the black and white for the first time in 46 days since limping out of October's defeat to Milan, La Joya made his presence felt immediately, attemping three shots in the space of 10 minutes, only Pjanic managed more over the full 90.

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