A look to the left. A look to the right. Another to the left. A quick peek over his shoulder. Left again. Right again. Right again. Over his shoulder again. You get the idea. In the space of just a few seconds, Miralem Pjanic has taken about a dozen mental photographs of his surroundings. The reason he does it is because he’s realised that there are 21 other players on the pitch watching the ball. His job is to watch everything else.

It was a night of lessons for Manchester United, but perhaps the most important was also one of the most subtle. With Blaise Matuidi to his right and Rodrigo Bentancur to his right, the 28-year-old Pjanic offered a modern masterclass in how to run an elite European game from the base of midfield. In so doing, he displayed all the characteristics that United seem to lack at present: composure, control, mobility, flexibility, the ability to pick a telling pass and the ability to see it in the first place.

You rarely hear Pjanic spoken of in the same breath as the world’s other great midfield conductors: Modric, Kroos, Rakitic, Thiago. Perhaps it’s because the consistency isn’t quite there yet. Perhaps it’s because, as a Bosnian, he rarely gets to display his talents on the biggest international stages. But when his manager Massmiliano Allegri says he can become “one of the best three midfielders in the world”, it’s not simply hyperbole. And on a crisp evening in a gridlocked north-west, when United’s players and staff were forced to walk the last half-mile to the ground, Pjanic showed there are few better at directing the traffic.

Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Show all 22 1 /22 Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus David De Gea - 7 Made a handful of typically aesthetic saves and did very little wrong. Without him, as seems to be the case regularly this season, United might have been beaten by a bigger margin. Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Ashley Young - 6 Bombed down the right flank regularly during the second half, but couldn’t quite find the quality to create for his teammates. Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Chris Smalling - 5 Looked shaky at the back throughout and clearly struggled to deal with the elusive movement of Paulo Dybala. AFP/Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Victor Lindelof - 7 Made more than one crucial intervention at the back when Juventus looked set to add to their tally. Demonstrated his positional sense and intelligence. Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Luke Shaw - 6 Worked hard and made some key tackles. But he was occasionally found straying out of position. Cancelo, in particular, gave him a difficult time. Man Utd via Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Nemanja Matic - 5 Marshalled in front of the backline and attempted to keep things moving on the ball. Like his teammates, though, he lacked inventiveness. AFP/Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Juan Mata - 5 Cut a frustrated figure throughout. Tried to make things happen in the final third but did not see enough of the ball and wasn’t helped by a lack of movement around him. Man Utd via Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Paul Pogba - 6 Improved after the break following a fairly anonymous first half. Looked to create and was unfortunate with a shot that struck the post. Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Marcus Rashford - 6 Was United’s most lively player in the first half but faded as the game went on. He was well marshalled by Juventus’ experienced defenders. Man Utd via Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Anthony Martial - 6 Disappointingly, particularly after his recent Premier League performances, did not make an impact against Juventus. Had a couple of opportunities early in the second half but was largely a passenger. Man Utd via Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Romelu Lukaku - 5 For large parts of the game appeared uninterested, before finally coming to life late in the second half. Needs to improve in future games of this magnitude. Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Wojciech Szczęsny - 6 Juventus' Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny gestures during the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Napoli on September 29, 2018 at the Juventus stadium in Turin. (Photo by Isabella BONOTTO / AFP) (Photo credit should read ISABELLA BONOTTO/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Joao Cancelo - 6 Manchester United's Swedish defender Victor Lindelof (L) vies with Juventus' Portuguese defender Joao Cancelo during the Champions League group H football match between Manchester United and Juventus at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on October 23, 2018. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Leonardo Bonucci - 7 MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 23: Anthony Martial of Manchester United is tackled by Leonardo Bonucci of Juventus during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Manchester United and Juventus at Old Trafford on October 23, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Giorgio Chiellini - 7 Manchester United's Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku (L) vies with Juventus' Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini (R) during the Champions League group H football match between Manchester United and Juventus at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on October 23, 2018. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Alex Sandro - 6 Juventus' Brazilian defender Alex Sandro (R) vies with Manchester United's English striker Marcus Rashford (L) during the Champions League group H football match between Manchester United and Juventus at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on October 23, 2018. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Juan Cuadrado - 6 Juventus' Colombian midfielder Juan Cuadrado eyes the ball during the Italian Serie A football match Parma vs Juventus on September 1, 2018 at Ennio Tardini stadium in Parma. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Rodrigo Bentancur - 6 MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 23: Paul Pogba of Manchester United in action with Rodrigo Bentancur of Juventus during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Manchester United and Juventus at Old Trafford on October 23, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images) Man Utd via Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Miralem Pjanic - 6 MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 23: Paul Pogba of Manchester United in action with Miralem Pjanic of Juventus during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Manchester United and Juventus at Old Trafford on October 23, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Tom Purslow/Man Utd via Getty Images) Man Utd via Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Blaise Matuidi - 6 MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 23: Ashley Young of Manchester United battles for possession with Blaise Matuidi of Juventus during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Manchester United and Juventus at Old Trafford on October 23, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Cristiano Ronaldo - 7 MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 23: Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus reacts during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Manchester United and Juventus at Old Trafford on October 23, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Juventus Paulo Dybala - 8 MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 23: Paulo Dybala of Juventus celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Manchester United and Juventus at Old Trafford on October 23, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) Getty Images

First of all, there’s the looking: the scanning, the darting pupils, the constant glances. All players build their own picture of the game, but with Pjanic you feel it’s something more elemental than that, a sense that he’s primarily playing the game not with his feet or his lungs, but his eyes. He never wastes a glance on the bench or the stands. The objective is that when he finally gets the ball, he’s not only aware of his options, but has already selected his favourite.

Miralem Pjanic celebrates Juventus's first goal with his teammates (Reuters)

At which point, the immaculate touch kicks in. Thus it was around 15 minutes in, when the ball rolled towards him just inside the United half and without looking – without needing to look – he knew Joao Cancelo would be making the run on the outside right. A beautifully weighted dink towards the touchline, and two or three seconds later Paulo Dybala was slamming the ball home for the only goal of the game, ghosting past an entirely theoretical Nemanja Matic.

Having started the game higher up the pitch, looking to win the ball early on and disrupt United’s rhythm, Pjanic now dropped deeper, onto his own centre-halves, searching for the space from which he could slow the pace down before half-time. As United began to come into the game in the second half, he was pointing, directing, funnelling the ball away into less dangerous areas, at one point taking the extremely brave step of bawling at Giorgio Chiellini for not releasing the ball earlier.

A couple of seasons ago, Allegri publicly criticised Pjanic in the hope of stirring him into improvement. “Every now and then, when he gets a pass wrong, he acts like it’s the end of the world,” he said. “He needs to stay calm and relax, because his potential is only partially expressed.” And here, even as the odd pass went astray, Pjanic showed clear signs of improvement in that sphere as well. Only Bentancur – an attractively skittish foil alongside him, the Webb to his Mitchell – completed more than his 72 passes.