Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri was satisfied after his side's 2-0 win away at Malmo on Wednesday night.
The Bianconeri desperately needed all three points to shrug off pressure from Olympiakos and can still qualify as group winners if they beat Atletico Madrid with an important scoreline when the two teams face in December.
"We should have closed it earlier, we had chances to do so," Allegri said.
"But it was a good game. The lads understood the importance of the game. Malmo was full of running in the first half and we made mistakes due to the pitch conditions but then we improved.
"[The game against Atletico] will be important. We will face a team which went very close to winning the Champions League. We will try to win with a two-goal difference since we can still qualify as group winners.
"Yes, [I'm happy with the midfield]. Claudio Marchisio is a top quality player, he reads the game to perfection and he's very technical. And then we have Andrea [Pirlo]], Pogba is always improving, he's young, he will surely improve."