Though five goals shy of last year's tally (and we can probably blame Gonzalo Higuaín for that), Juventus' other Argentine striker Paulo Dybala has enjoyed quite the season in Turin.
Two stunning goals from the 23-year-old all but sent Barcelona packing from this season's Champions League, and Juventus will have a chance to go one better than their 2014/15 predecessors in this season's final in Cardiff.
Dybala, who arrived from Palermo two seasons ago, is widely regarded as one of the top young forwards in world football; indeed, he's probably on the precipice of shedding the 'young' caveat such is his all-round quality, searing pace and ability to act as a playmaker as well as a finisher.
He is, however, famously one-footed; Dybala uses his right peg about as often as Antonio Valencia uses his left, which is to say there's very little proof to suggest he ever has. The Argentina international, however, is keen to fine-tune his weaker peg, and has resorted to an extremely bizarre means of moulding it into a legitimate weapon in his considerable arsenal.
Speaking to Il Venerdi, Dybala said:
I’m left-handed, I even brush my teeth with my left hand.
I take a pen every day and I try to write, but with my right foot, I put it between my big toe and the little one.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 360 goals, which is because he’s right-footed but also strong with his left. With one foot you’re easier to mark and it’s easier for opponents to read you.
I work like a crazy person to have more sensitivity and ability. Not just that, I also train with my eyes; to see further, in different directions, to anticipate my opponents and see trajectories.
Dybala also revealed how he's been working on his physique since arriving in Italian football, but how AC Milan legend Gennaro Gattuso warned him off doing weights at an early age:
I’ve also started doing a lot of gym work, in Italy I’ve started learning to defend the ball.
[Gennaro] Gattuso, who was then the Palermo Coach, told me not to overdo the weights though, I don’t need to be Big Jim, the explosiveness in my legs is enough.
The man known as 'La Joya' is renowned for his Gladiator mask celebration, with his teammates frequently joining in.
Speaking to Il Venerdi, Dybala shed some further light on how the celebration came to be:
It came from my mistake, in the Supercoppa final with Milan in Doha.
It wasn’t a nice time and I was disappointed, above all I was struggling to bounce back, I looked at the others and I felt guilty.
So I posted Michael Jordan’s quote: ‘I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed’.
The mask comes from Gladiator, a film I must have seen 30 times. In life you have to get up and fight.
Never a truer word was spoken, of course.
