March 10, (THEWILL) – Juventus secured a 1-0 lead in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie against Freiburg, thanks to Angel Di Maria’s heroics.
The Argentine scored a powerful header into the roof of the net on Filip Kostic’s cross from the left. It was his fourth consecutive Europa League goal for Juve, following his hat-trick against Nantes. However, Federico Chiesa suffered a right knee sprain, and he was seen visibly struggling to run in the final minutes.
Juventus had to do without the services of Arkadiusz Milik and Kaio Jorge. Still, they had Angel Di Maria supporting Dusan Vlahovic, who had his chances, including a free kick that was palmed out from under the bar. Meanwhile, Paul Pogba was dropped from the squad after turning up late to a team meeting.
The match had its share of controversy. Adrien Rabiot had a goal disallowed after the referee stopped play for a Manuel Locatelli foul. Meanwhile, Freiburg thought they had equalised through Lucas Holer, only for a VAR on-field review to show it was knocked down by Matthias Ginter’s hand.
Juventus will head into the second leg with a slender lead, but they will have to manage without Chiesa, who could be a significant miss. Before then, the Old Lady will play Sampdoria in Serie A while Freiburg will host Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
