The pre-season friendly against the Bundlesliga powerhouse was billed as Mats Hummels’ farewell as the Germany icon announced his retirement in the summer.
Yet it was former Manchester City target Cambiaco who stole the show with strikes on 16 and 53 minutes, to earn the Bianconeri their first win in four games with a convincing 2-1 success.
Juve head coach Igor Tudor, who must surely have been frustrated by the lack of financial clout this summer, had been testing out a 4-4-2 formation during their pre-season training in Germany before tackling Dortmund.
He stuck with his favored 3-4-2-1 tactics, which paid dividends as Juventus outplayed the hosts who only mustered a single shot on target and scored.
It was a far superior performance from last weekend’s lame 2-2 draw against Serie B side AC Reggiana, with the Juve defense looking solid and the midfield running rings around their opponents.
The only failure was the Bianconeri’s firepower, with striker Jonathan David unable to break his duck in a Juve jersey since arriving last month as a free agent.
He was replaced by wantaway center forward Dusan Vlahovic midway through the second half, one of 10 substitutions.
Vlahovic missed glorious last-gasp chance
The Serbia striker had scored against Reggiana, and came close to adding to Juve’s tally. The 25-year-old, strongly linked with a switch to AC Milan or Villarreal, sent his added time long-range effort left of the target but produced an industrious display.
Dortmund kicked off brimming with confidence, with former Juve target Serhou Guirassy’s seventh-minute header wide of finding the top left corner.
Cambiaso made the breakthrough, against the run of play. After Dortmund failed to clear David’s cross, the rebound fell to Pierre Kalulu on the right wing.
Kalulu picked out Cambiaso, who from close range slotted into the bottom right corner past Switzerland shotstopper Gregor Kober.
Center-back Hummels was hauled off after 19 minutes, and waved farewell to his legion of fans after being replaced by Niklas Süle.
Bremer made first-half appearance
Juve controlled the opening half, with their backline snuffing out any danger. Tudor only swapped Gleison Bremer, who had suffered a season-ending ACL injury last term, for the arrival of former Italy international Daniele Rugani following the interval.
Dortmund may have enjoyed more possession in both halves, but struggled to make much impact against their well-organized opponents.
Juventus were swift to double their lead thanks to another left-foot finish from Cambiaso. A neat move kicked off with Joao Mario soaring forward and picking out David, who found Kenan Yildiz.
The ball was released to Cambiaso down the left wing, who fired his shot from a tricky angle into the far right corner to send the home supporters into silence.
Pinsoglio beaten by last-gasp thunderbolt
Energetic substitute Maximilian Beier reduced the deficit in the 89th-minute. He turned his marker before slamming his close-range effort into the roof of the net and past substitute keeper Carlo Pinsoglio.
Vlahovic should have restored a two-goal cushion, which would have reflected Juve’s superiority.
Juve’s final tune-up fixture, before their Serie A campaign kicks off on 24 August, will be at Atalanta next Saturday.
JUVENTUS: Di Gregorio (Pinsoglio, 65) - Kalulu (Gatti, 67), Bremer (Rugani, 45), Kelly - Mario (Koopmeiners, 65), Locatelli (McKennie, 66), Thuram (Miretti, 66), Cambiaso (Djalo, 67) - Conceicao (Kostic, 65), Yildiz (Adzic, 65) - David (Vlahovic, 66). Subs: Perin, Fuscaldo, Gonzalez, Arthur, Luiz, Cabal, Rouhi, Puche, Pietrelli.