Jose Mourinho backed Paulo Dybala to make an impact when he returns to Juventus as a Roma player on Saturday, as he praised the Argentina forward's contribution since joining the Giallorossi.
Roma have recorded back-to-back 1-0 wins over Salernitana and Cremonese to start the Serie A season, and Saturday's clash in Turin represents a real test of both sides' Scudetto credentials.
The Giallorossi's acquisition of Dybala, who left Juventus upon the expiration of his contract in July, was regarded as something as a coup after he scored 82 league goals during a seven-year spell in Turin.
That haul places Dybala 10th in Juventus' all-time Serie A goalscoring charts, making him the highest-scoring non-European player in their league history and their fourth-most prolific non-Italian (after John Hansen, David Trezeguet and John Charles).
Asked how Dybala will handle the prospect of returning to his former club, Mourinho said: "It depends on the personality of the individual. For some players coming home is nothing, for others it is difficult. For others it is 50-50.
"For Paulo I don't know, he has the face of a child but he is not. He has a lot of experience, then the control of his emotions depends on him.
"From how he worked these days I have not seen anything different. I expect a normal game, maybe with a little more emotion than before."
Asked about Dybala's impact since his arrival, Mourinho added: "For me it is very good. I did not expect more at the moment. In the last two years he has had little continuity. He did not start the pre-season like the others, he arrived late.
"At the [Stadio] Olimpico playing on that surface is really hard, it's like running on a Portuguese beach! I see him well and with good character."
Juventus have won 85 of their 176 Serie A matches against Roma, recording more league victories over the Giallorossi than against any other club, and triumphed 4-3 when the sides last met at the Stadio Olimpico in January.
But Mourinho called for his team to put past meetings behind them, as he declared Roma would not be satisfied with a draw at the Allianz Stadium.
"Playing against a top team is nice, but it is nothing special compared to usual. I have played many times in Turin, tomorrow will be one more. There is no connection with the past," he added.
"First of all, we have to think that every match is an isolated match. This Juve-Roma has nothing to do with the next or the last one.
"What happened in the past shouldn't affect us. We can prepare the team as best we can, but we always do it. It's not that we do it more with Juve than we did with Cremonese.
"Last year in Turin [a 1-0 defeat in October 2021] we played to win, we played well. Regardless of what happened, I was happy with the attitude, not the result.
"I expect the same attitude. Roma must try to win. We are not going to play for a draw, we want to win tomorrow. We will go there to win, if we lose then we will lose."
Mourinho has lost his last two matches against Juventus; throughout his entire managerial career, he has only recorded more than two consecutive defeats against a single opponent on one occasion, losing four successive games against Liverpool in the Premier League as Chelsea boss.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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