TURIN, Italy (AP) — No Cristiano Ronaldo, no problem for Juventus.
Paulo Dybala filled in for the star by scoring his first Champions League hat trick to give the Italian team a 3-0 victory over Young Boys on Tuesday.
With Ronaldo watching from the stands after getting his first red card in the competition in the previous round, Dybala rediscovered the scoring form that saw the Argentina international score 22 Serie A goals last season.
"I wanted a match like this," Dybala said, with a huge smile on his face and clutching the match ball. "But I think the whole team approached the match with the right attitude."
It was Juventus' ninth win in nine matches this season as the Italian club remained perfect in all competitions.
It also saw Juventus take control of Group H with a two-point lead over Manchester United, which drew 0-0 against Valencia.
That still wasn't enough to satisfy coach Massimiliano Allegri.
"We should have scored more tonight," he said. "On one hand for our goal difference, on the other because matches are coming up in which we will only have one or two chances, and we will have to be more clinical than we have been."
Juventus visits Manchester United in the next round when Ronaldo will be available for his return to Old Trafford.
It took Dybala less than five minutes to give Juventus the lead with a delightful chipped volley after a long ball over the top from Leonardo Bonucci.
Juventus almost doubled its lead 10 minutes later as Young Boys goalkeeper David von Ballmoos could only parry Federico Bernardeschi's effort but it was cleared for a corner.
However, Von Ballmoos was punished for a similar mistake in the 33rd when he pushed away Blaise Matuidi's fierce shot and Dybala was on hand to tuck the rebound into the bottom left corner.
Dybala came close to completing his hat trick three minutes into the second half when he dispatched an angled effort past the reach of Von Ballmoos but it bounced off the inside of the left post.
Moments later he could have had a penalty after he was tripped by Young Boys defender Steve von Bergen but the referee waved play on.
Dybala did get his hat trick in the 69th, finishing off a long passing move by Juventus after being unselfishly teed up by Juan Cuadrado.
Only four Juventus players have scored a hat trick in the Champions League, including Filippo Inzaghi (twice), Alessandro Del Piero and Arturo Vidal.
It was also Dybala's first hat trick in Turin. He scored trebles in three league matches last season but all were away from home.
Dybala had struggled to find the net since Ronaldo joined the club this summer, having scored just once while playing in a deeper-lying role behind the Portuguese star and Mario Mandzukic in a three-pronged attack.
"Last year I scored many goals at the start and then slowed down, it was almost the opposite," he said. "Obviously it's easier at times with Cristiano but we have to always be focused, when he's playing and when he's not playing."
Young Boys' evening was made even worse in the 78th when defender Mohamed Ali Camara was sent off following two bookings in quick succession.
It was a second successive 3-0 defeat for Young Boys, which lost by the same score to Manchester United. The Swiss side only had one shot on target the whole match.
