Dybala races against time for Lyon tie
TURIN: On the verge of being sold to Manchester United last summer, Paulo Dybala is once again Juventus’ talisman as the newly-crowned Italian champions race to get him ready for their Champions League showdown with Lyon.
This time last year Dybala, 26, looked to be the counterweight in Romelu Lukaku’s transfer to Turin but has since re-established himself as the fulcrum of Juve’s attack alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring 16 goals in all competitions and setting up 14 more.
His form, after a slow start to the season, led to him being crowned Serie A’s ‘MVP’ on Tuesday ahead of Ronaldo and European Golden Shoe winner Ciro Immobile.
And now Dybala is reportedly on the verge of a new five-year deal with Juve, a remarkable turnaround from what at one point seemed a near-certain departure to England.
Now the Italian champions are feverishly trying to help the Argentine recover from a thigh injury picked up the night they won their ninth straight Scudetto in the hope he can start against Lyon tonight.
Last week coach Maurizio Sarri said that Dybala’s “recovery process is going well”, but admitted he wasn’t sure when Dybala would return to action.
However Italian media reported on Wednesday that there is some optimism that he will be back in time to play some part the clash at the Allianz Stadium.
Juve trail the Ligue 1 side, who lost on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain in the French League Cup final at the weekend, following their 1-0 defeat in France six months ago.
Lyon coach Rudi Garcia, who will be able to count on key forward Memphis Depay after his return from a serious knee injury in last Friday’s final, told the Gazzetta dello Sport that he is aiming for a similar display in Turin, saying that “we’re not going to defend the whole match”.
“We need to find a way to score a goal, if that happens it will be difficult to knock us out,” he said.