Speaking to the media after Juventus' 1–0 win against Zenit in the Champions League on Wednesday, Leonardo Bonucci said: "I think we are playing more as a team now.
"In the recent past we had lost this characteristic, we were playing with a great champion like Cristiano Ronaldo and we wanted to put him in a position to always do well, thinking he could decide all the matches for us.
"This year we are rediscovering that right humility that we need to win games. It was a tough match. As soon as Zenit lost the ball, they were closing down all spaces. The whole team deserved this victory, we rediscovered the desire to suffer and have patience, and that's the most important things."
Ronaldo left Juventus with just a few days left in the summer transfer window and took the Serie A giants a while to adapt to life without the 36-year-old.
However, Max Allegri's side have managed to get back to winning ways at home and in Europe following a disastrous 2020/21 campaign under Andrea Pirlo.
