Juventus waltzed to a 1-0 victory and made Manchester United look like a second-rate Champions League side on the night that Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford.
The Italian champions started superbly against a lacklustre United side and took the lead on 17 minutes, with Pablo Dybala scoring from close range after Ronaldo’s cross was deflected into the Argentine’s path.
Hogging the majority of possession, Juve were a cut above Jose Mourinho’s side for the most part, with the home routinely struggling to breach their opponent’s final third, let alone create any chances of note.
Indeed, Romelu Lukaku looked helplessly isolated for the entire 90 minutes, though the Belgian striker once again failed to help his own cause with movement and intent at a minimum.
As is usually the case these days, David De Gea was also called upon to keep his side in the game on a number of occasions.
After the break, United did improve somewhat and began moving the ball round a bit more freely, but continued to struggle in advancing any further than that against a characteristically solid Bianconeri backline.
Paul Pogba came closest to getting one back for United, only for his curling effort to come back off the post and ricochet clear off Wojciech Szczesny’s head.
And so, the game would eventually end in a meticulous 1-0 away win for Max Allegri’s side, who were superior in pretty much every department.
The result sees Juventus top Group H with a 100% record so far, with United five points back in second spot.
Speaking after the match, Mourinho seemed to acknowledge that his team are some way off being able to compete with Europe’s best:
After the (Champions League) draw, we knew it would be a fight with Valencia for second position.
Not many Manchester United managers would openly admit a thing like that, even it they did believe it deep down.
Image: BBC Sport
The two teams will now meet again in Turin on 7th November, with a victory for Juve enough to see them through to the knockout stages.