Massimiliano Allegri believes January could prove to be a defining month for Juventus as they target glory on three fronts.
The reigning Serie A champions and current leaders returned from their winter break to demolish Bologna 3-0 in Turin, with Gonzalo Higuain scoring twice, either side of a Paulo Dybala penalty.
Victory also meant a Serie A record of 26 consecutive wins.
On Sunday, Juventus, aiming for a sixth successive title, broke their own record of 25 home wins in a row set under Antonio Conte between 2013 and 2014.
With a four-point lead in the Scudetto race re-established, thoughts turn to tomorrow’s Coppa Italia quarter-final meeting with Atalanta, before Juve have to visit fierce rivals Fiorentina in the league.
Allegri said: “I am convinced that you will understand a lot more about this team at the end of January. It will be an important period for us.
“Our rivals, like Roma and Napoli, are doing good things and putting pressure on us – it’s going to be a long season.
“Beating Atalanta in the cup will not be easy, they’re doing very well. Then in the Champions League we will have to be at our best to beat Porto.
“We have a lot of matches ahead of us in the next few weeks but we can do well in them all.”
Higuain blasted Miralem Pjanic’s assist beyond Antonio Mirante for a seventh-minute opener before Dybala converted a spot-kick following a foul from Marios Oikonomou.
Juve’s €90m signing Higuain rubber-stamped the outcome with a header 10 minutes after the break, and Allegri was full of praise for his team.
“They are playing well and are dedicated to doing what I’m asking them to do,” he said.
“We played well on a technical level, especially considering it was the first game of the year.
“We have trained well over the last few days and now we must continue doing so, and keep growing.”
Midfielder Claudio Marchisio was happy to get an early opportunity to make amends for the missed opportunity that came in the Supercoppa Italiana final just two days before Christmas.
Juve had been targeting a third piece of silverware in 2016 but lost on penalties to Milan in Doha.
“Bologna are a very valid side and we’ve often found it tough against (Roberto) Donadoni’s teams,” he said.
“We wanted to bounce back after Doha. It was important to react at our own stadium, in front of our own fans.
“The year has just began – we have many matches left to play, starting on Wednesday (tomorrow), but we’ve got off to a good start.”
Coppa Italia – Last 16
Playing today: 21.00 Napoli vs Spezia.
Tomorrow: 17.30 Fiorentina vs Chievo. 20.45 Juventus vs Atalanta.
Thursday: 21.00 Milan vs Torino.