Angel Di Maria: Freiburg Coach Gives Delightful Remark on Juventus Star After Europa League Match

• Juventus beat SC Freiburg in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League last 16
• World Cup winner Angel Di Maria scored the only goal of the night in Turin
• After the game, he received praise from Freiburg manager Christian Streich

Juventus put their off-field issues aside and battled to a hard-fought win over SC Freiburg in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie.

The Bianconeri, despite dominating the game, scored only one goal through World Cup winner, Angel Di Maria, who headed home Filip Kostic's cross.

The Argentine scored a hat-trick against Nantes last week to help the Old Lady reach that stage, underlining his importance to Massimiliano Allegri's side.

Freiburg coach praises Di Maria

Freiburg manager, Christian Streich, despite his side falling to a defeat, singled out the former Paris Saint-Germain winger for praise during his post-match conference, as quoted by Football Italia.

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“He is a player who, even as an opponent, is just fantastic to watch - a feast for the eyes. We tried everything to stop him today, but he has so much football intelligence, quality and experience,” Streich said.

“I saw that Di Maria had a cramp at the end, which also shows you how hard he was working for Juventus. [He] is a delight for anyone who is passionate about football,” he added.

The Freiburg manager also reserved praise for the whole opposition team after a dominating and spirited performance.

“Juventus gave everything and were very aggressive on the field. We played against a very strong team who deserved to win, but now the second leg is all to play for,” he said.

As reported by Athletic UK, the 35-year-old joined Juve in the summer on a one-year deal after running down his PSG contract, but talks are ongoing to grant him an extension.

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Pogba dropped for disciplinary reasons

Heading into the first leg of their UCL tie, Juventus had to deal with a high-profile incident before the game.

Sports Brief reported on Paul Pogba being dropped for indiscipline after being late for a team camp on Wednesday.

Allegri said respect for the team was important but revealed the Frenchman would be back in the mix on Friday.