Rome, April 1 (IANS) Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado and Sami Khedira gave Juventus a 3-1 victory over Milan at Allianz Stadium, ahead of next Tuesday’s clash with Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.

With the win in Saturday’s match, Juventus reinforced its leadership in the Italian Serie A first division league, with a four-point lead over Napoli, that tied 1-1 in Saturday’s match against Sassuolo, reports Efe.

Juventus’s 3-5-2 starting lineup included Argentinian strikers Gonzalo Higuain and Dybala, as well as centre-back Medhi Benatia and midfielder Miralem Pjanic, both of whom will miss next Tuesday’s match against Real Madrid because of the yellow cards they received.

Milan maintained its regular 4-3-3 lineup, in which the main surprise was the appearance of striker Andre Silva, who was accompanied by Jesus Fernando Saez “Suso” and by Calhanoglu.

Just eight minutes into regulation, Dybala scored Juventus’s first goal with a left-foot shot from outside the penalty area, to the surprise of goalkeeper Antonio Donnarumma.

Milan was not deterred, tying the game 28 minutes into the first half, with a header by Bonucci off a corner kick by Calhanoglu.

This was the second goal any team had scored against Juventus in the last 16 Serie A matches.

The two deciding goals did not come until the last 10 minutes of the match, after Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri decided to attempt a more aggressive 4-2-3-1 formation.

Juan Cuadrado scored Juventus’s second goal, 79 minutes into regulation, with a header off a pass from Sami Khedira.

With three minutes left in regulation, Khedira scored Juventus’s third goal with a right-foot shot from the penalty area, after a reverse pass by Dybala.

–IANS
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