Juventus put their miserable domestic form behind them to defeat Sevilla 2-0 in their Champions League Group D match after goals from Álvaro Morata and Simone Zaza, and an excellent display by Sami Khedira on his debut.

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Morata headed an Andrea Barzagli cross past Sergio Rico in the 41st minute, before the substitute Zaza doubled the Juventus lead with a late breakaway goal in the 87th minute.

Khedira was named in the Juventus starting team for the first time since his summer move from Real Madrid, and provided the kind of stability they have lacked in Serie A this season. Juve’s excellent form in Europe – they beat Manchester City a fortnight ago – comes in stark contrast to their domestic woes, with last season’s Champions League finalists having managed only one victory from their opening six league fixtures.

The Juventus coach, Massimiliano Allegri, said: “The difference? In the Champions League we have six points and in the league we have five, having played more games. We had a good game tonight, and that didn’t happen at Napoli [in the 2-1 defeat on Saturday]. Our attitude has always been the same … we played better technically tonight.”

Sevilla, who kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win over Mönchengladbach, only recorded their first win in Serie A last weekend. Unai Emery said: “We did OK in attack and we noticed improvement in the rest, but not enough against a great side like Juventus. We had hardly any goal scoring chances. The result is fair and now we have to go forward like this and things will improve as we grow as a team.”

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Juventus were much improved with Khedira in the heart of the midfield, while two other new recruits, Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado, both contributed to a menacing attacking display. However, it was Morata who opened the scoring, leaping above Marco Andreolli and Timothee Kolodziejczak to head past Rico.

Cuadrado, on loan from Chelsea, combined superbly with Khedira on 17 minutes to set up Dybala, only for the forward’s curling left-footed shot to fly just wide of the Sevilla goal. The young Argentinian had an opportunity to double Juve’s lead on shortly after half-time but his close-range effort was smothered by Rico.

Zaza replaced Morata on 80 minutes, and doubled Juve’s lead seven minutes later when he picked up the ball just inside the Sevilla half before tearing towards Rico and finishing beneath the onrushing keeper.

Juventus lead Group D with a maximum six points after two matches. Sevilla and Manchester City, who beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1, both have three points.