Time and again the 29-year-old has made the difference when it mattered for Juve, including in matches against his former team, would-be Scudetto challengers Roma and local rivals Torino.
Perhaps his most important intervention came this month in Monte Carlo, where he struck twice to secure a 2-0 lead in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Monaco, dealing a fatal blow to the hopes of Leonardo Jardim s team.
If the goals were classic, opportunistic Higuain finishes, the celebration for the first also embodied the idiosyncrasy of the striker s potency, as he hauled himself gingerly over an adverting board a manoeuvre many others would have taken at a hurdle to celebrate with the travelling fans.
A night earlier, the antithesis of Higuain had exerted a similarly definitive influence on the first instalment of a Madrid derby last-four showdown.
Former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, a hat-trick hero to brush aside Atletico, epitomises the aforementioned modern football superman and is never afraid to remind us of his taut, muscular prowess.
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano)
In Cardiff, the two men will go head to head, six pack against sharp shooter.
Even taking into consideration Madrid s historic and very recent dominance of Europe, it would be a stretch indeed to ever try and bill Juventus as the underdog.
But in Higuain at least the neutrals have an everyman to cheer for, our very own average joe on the biggest stage in club football.
Should he walk away a winner on Saturday night in south Wales, we all deserve a celebratory blowout.
