It is not often you lose a first-choice midfielder to injury after 20 minutes and are actually strengthened by the enforced substitution.
But that is exactly what happened to Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico during Sunday's Supercoppa Italiana against Lazio, as Claudio Marchisio hobbled off with a knee complaint and was replaced by French wonderkid Paul Pogba.
While Juve laboured in the opening exchanges, it took just three minutes for the ex-Manchester United man to make an impact as he swivelled brilliantly in the area to break the deadlock with a left-footed snapshot past Federico Marchetti.
Juventus reigned supreme thereafter to crush the Romans 4-0 in the Eternal City and claim the first piece of silverware of the new Italian season. Along with flying wing-back Stephan Lichtsteiner, the long-legged Pogba was the outstanding player on the pitch – powerfully dominating the midfield and setting up new signing Carlos Tevez for his first official Juve goal.
With Marchisio having since been ruled out for 30-35 days with a first to second degree tear of his medial collateral ligament, Pogba will now start Saturday's Serie A opener in Genoa against Sampdoria alongside Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal.
Just like on Sunday, Marchisio's injury could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Juve (and a devastating blow for the Italian). And not just in the short-term.
At just 20 years old, Pogba is already arguably superior to the Euro 2012 runner-up. Physically, mentally, technically – he possesses all the credentials to develop into the most complete midfielder in the world. Hence why former manager Sir Alex Ferguson - never fazed at having to supplant top class stars such as Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy and David Beckham – was so enraged at losing the youngster on a Bosman a year ago.
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