Allegri didn't elaborate too much on exactly what. Instead he used the opportunity to reinforce his point that, at this level, the difference is often made by skill and technical excellence. "It's enough to watch Luka Modric," he said.

A chance the Croatian created for Real Madrid just before the half-hour mark in their 3-1 win against Napoli excited Allegri. Modric started the move just inside his own half. He slowed the tempo down, exchanging a series of passes with the outside of his foot to Real's left-back Marcelo before suddenly lifting it again, dashing into space and putting Ronaldo through on goal. "Pressing and tactics [all these things we fixate on] had nothing to do with it," Allegri marvelled. "It was all about the skill of the individual players involved. It was pure entertainment. Beautiful to watch."

Downplaying a coach's role is a common Allegri ploy. The best ones, he likes to say, are those who do the least damage. Praised by the pundits in the Sky Italia studio after his substitutions again impacted a game and helped Juventus find a way to win at Chievo in November, he reminded them that the winning goal was a sublime Miralem Pjanic free kick. You can't coach the skill involved. "It's like teaching birds how to fly," he said.

Aside from being far too modest for his own good in seeking to minimise his part in Juventus' success, these anecdotes reveal a lot about Allegri's approach to the Champions League. At the end of last season, he offered the following analysis: "In Europe, you win with skill, not running. It's not like the league. You can run a lot but in the moment you naturally stop to catch your breath, it's then that, if their full of skill, the other teams strike. That's just how it works."

Since Allegri led Juventus to the Champions League final two years ago, recruitment has largely followed this train of thought. The club has looked to add skill players in all positions, from Alex Sandro and Dani Alves at full-back, to Miralem Pjanic in midfield and Juan Cuadrado and Marko Pjaca out wide, to Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain in attack. All of them are comfortable on the ball. They can beat players in one-vs.-ones. They're smart and can win games out of nothing from a free kick in Pjanic and Dybala's case or another piece of individual brilliance.

If there has been a criticism of Juventus this season, it is perhaps that, at times, particularly earlier in the campaign, they relied too much on the latter. They weren't convincing as a collective. Napoli are adjudged to play the best football in Italy. But as Allegri says, you get no points for style. You can't have champagne and caviar all the time. Sometimes you have to make do with a ham sandwich. Juventus will do what it takes to win. As their motto goes: "Winning isn't important, it's the only thing that counts."

But Allegri isn't prepared to settle for that. While Juventus are playing as well as they have done all season, coming good at exactly the right time, he continues to demand they play better. "We have got to improve," he said on Thursday. "Now is the time to really push hard at increasing the quality of our play, the speed of our passing." The latter is a particular obsession of Allegri's. "Bayern and Real pass the ball with an extraordinary speed and execution," he observed, "but we are not inferior. We can match them."

As the season has worn on Allegri has got closer to achieving this by fielding as many skill players simultaneously as possible while also applying some counter-intuitive thinking. Juventus' problem this season has been balance. After their defeat to Fiorentina in January, Giorgio Chiellini candidly admitted that, at this stage, unlike in previous years at the same point, they were still in search of it. Allegri's reaction was to then name what on paper looked like the most unbalanced Juventus team imaginable, featuring Higuain, Dybala, Cuadrado, Mario Mandzukic and Pjanic from the start.

Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and Miralem Pjanic have combined to great effect at Juventus.

It was a masterstroke not only from a tactical point of view, but in a motivational sense too as in order to make it work, the players all went the extra mile without the ball and, rather curiously in light of Allegri's comments about skill and running, covered more ground than in any other game this season. It looks like the best of both worlds. Higuain has scored more goals than any other striker in Europe's top five leagues in 2017. The defence has kept five clean sheets in seven games. Mandzukic's role wide on the left has been compared to the one Samuel Eto'o played for Inter Milan when they won the Treble in 2010. His spirit of sacrifice and the mismatches he creates with opposition full-backs is key.

While the media has leapt on the formation change to a 4-2-3-1 as more reason to believe Juventus can win the Champions League, Allegri has been keen to point out that the other systems they used up until January, from the trademark 3-5-2 to the Christmas Tree, also had the team top of the table. No team in Europe is as adaptable. The defence, along with Atletico Madrid's, remains the most dependable in the competition. Allegri believes Dybala could win the Ballon d'Or in the post-Ronaldo/Messi era. Higuain is scoring at the same rate he did at Napoli. Overall Juventus have a depth perhaps only Bayern can rival. For Buffon and other veterans this could be their last chance. Juventus feel ready.

Sixteen players have left since the final in Berlin two years ago, but an awareness of their own strength in Europe remains. The complex they suffered under Conte is gone. Although Juventus went out at this stage a year ago, their performance against Bayern felt like progress. The first 70 minutes at the Allianz Arena were comparable to what PSG did to Barca last week and had Morata's goal stood...

Allegri has pushed back against the narrative that Juventus are overwhelming favourites against Porto. He has been very respectful of their history, recognising their winning tradition in this competition and how they have won it as many times as Juventus. Porto are used to getting to this stage of the Champions League. They won't be fazed by it and managed to upset Bayern Munich at the Dragao not too long ago. Roma lost there in the playoffs earlier in the season and Leicester City got hammered 5-0.

And yet, as a manager who surprised Juventus by demanding a bonus for reaching the Champions League final when they first sat down to discuss his appointment, this tie, this year should represent an opportunity. No team is unbeatable, and Juventus have closed the gap.