Winning the UEFA Champions League requires a clutch of different qualities. Teams who go all the way are supremely talented, yet underscoring all their ability is diligence, intensity and a steely mentality.

Champions League success can be circumstantial too. In 2016, Real Madrid were a mess under Rafael Benitez in the early stages of the campaign, before Zinedine Zidane added some organization and impetus to the team which ultimately proved vital on their way to an 11th European crown in Milan.

The season before, Barcelona were on their knees to begin 2015, with a loss to Real Sociedad in January triggering questions about the credentials of manager Luis Enrique and his relationship with Lionel Messi. But a small tactical tweak triggered a scintillating run of form and Barca ended the season with a treble.

Carrying some form into the knockout stages is so vital, so when isolating the prime contenders to clinch European glory this season, that’s well worth consideration. And it’s why Juventus may feel confident it’s their year.

After a slow start to the season by their own immaculate standards, the Bianconceri have ominously moved into top gear as of late. Massimiliano Allegri has steered his side to seven wins in succession in all competitions; they appear to be reaching a crest in momentum on the brink of their last-16 first-leg match against Porto on Wednesday.

Granted, for a team that’s bristling with the class Juve possess, that may not come as a great surprise. But there’s a burgeoning conviction in the way they’re operating.

There are goals aplenty, for starters. Some eyebrows where raised when the club splashed the bulk of the money recouped from the world-record sale of Paul Pogba on Gonzalo Higuain. Yet as things stand, the striker is looking like a value acquisition, with 22 goals already this term; Gazzetta dello Sport suggested him finding the back of the net is “as inevitable as death and taxes.”

There’s a sensational supporting cast to the Argentina international too. Paulo Dybala continues to show why he’s one of the games brightest rising stars with some dazzling displays, Mario Mandzukic is shining as a makeshift wide player and Juan Cuadrado provides a penetrative presence on the right flank.

Factor in a midfield bristling with creative options—like Claudio Marchisio and Miralem Pjanic—and enforcers—like Sami Khedira and Tomas Rincon—in front of the team’s wily defense, which includes the best left-back in world football at the moment in Alex Sandro, and there’s no denying Juventus have the quality to go all the way.

They nearly did in 2015, losing in the final to Barcelona. And for all incomparable experience men like Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli and Gianluigi Buffon possess, they’ll be hungry for this title and better placed to cope with the occasion should it come around again.

Collectively, the team looks more cohesive this year too. Of course, the balletic and brutish midfield play of Pogba has been missed at times, but Allegri’s men are organized without the flamboyant Frenchman, while others have sought to take on the talismanic baton since his sale.

Seizing that responsibility is something that’ll be crucial if Juve are to go on and secure their third Champions League win, especially for their two main men. Higuain, who has fashioned a reputation for folding in the biggest games, must deliver when the pressure is really on, while Dybala is also capable of setting the competition alight should he find some consistency.

For any Juve group seeking to succeed in Europe, they must deal with the club’s history as strugglers in continental competitions. As 32-time Italian champions, there’s little doubt they should have enjoyed more than a couple of successes in the European Cup; they’ve definitely had the talent to be crowned kings of the continent since 1996, when they were last anointed.

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They’ve come close, finishing as runners-up four times in those 21 years. In 2015, they ran into a Barcelona side possessing the finest attacking setup in the game’s history in the final. But this year, the competition feels like it may open up for Juventus.

That’s because all the other sides that traditionally compete for this competition have flashed vulnerabilities. Real Madrid continue to battle to wins, but have yet to look totally ominous, while Barcelona are set to be eliminated by an inconsistent Paris Saint-Germain. Bayern Munich meanwhile, when they’re not playing Arsenal, are still getting to grips with manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Focusing on the contest with Porto, Juventus will be without key personnel in Chiellini and Barzagli, while the Liga Nos outfit are a dangerous assignment, especially on their own patch. But it’s a favorable tie for the Italian champions.

A winner of this tournament needs balance, needs quality and needs unbending determination to battle through four grueling stages of knockout football to clinch the iconic silverware. At this juncture, Juventus tick all those boxes.