Europa League – Juve 1-0 Freiburg, goal by Di Maria

From our correspondent Marco Guidi

March 9th
– Turin

Always in the sign of Angel Di Maria. Juve wins the first round of the eighth final of the Europa League against Freiburg thanks to a punch from Fideo. An (unusual) headed goal for the Argentine, who was, beyond the marking, the great protagonist of the black and white night, delighting the audience with high-class plays. The 1-0, however, doesn’t completely protect the black and whites from any surprises in the return match, in a week’s time, in Germany, where Freiburg know how to be more daring than (little) done at least for an hour in Turin.

CHOICES

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No trident for Massimiliano Allegri, also due to the slight annoyance that hit Chiesa right on the eve. Attack thus entrusted to Di Maria and Vlahovic, while in midfield Miretti sees himself again from 1′. Usual Brazilian trio in defense, with Alex Sandro recovered in extremis (then forced to forfeit after 23′). Paul Pogba, on the other hand, is not there, “punished” for being late in calling up and therefore left out of the match. Streich’s Freiburg line up with a 3-4-2-1 formation, even if the full-backs, Kubler on the right and Gunter on the left, are pure full-backs rather than full-backs and Sallai plays closer to the Holer lone striker compared to Grifo. Bench for the Japanese Doan, as well as for the veteran Petersen.

ON THE ATTACK

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The beginning of the bianconeri is promising, thanks above all to the good spirit of Di Maria. The Germans, on the other hand, try to keep the pace low with an insistent, almost hypnotic dribble. So much so that Allegri, to raise the pressure, immediately shuffled the cards in the midfield, moving Rabiot to control, Miretti higher up the centre-left and using Locatelli from right midfielder. A move that immediately gave the desired result, with Juve decisively taking control of the match. The first, real opportunity in the 13th minute: Rabiot, served by the usual Di Maria, tries to surprise Flekken at the near post, who saves himself with his feet, not without a touch of apprehension. Two minutes later, the Dutch goalkeeper repeats himself, this time diving with his fists, on Cuadrado’s free-kick from outside. The ball is almost exclusive to Allegri’s team, which however loses, as in Rome, Alex Sandro due to injury: captain Bonucci is in, exactly like last Sunday at the Olimpico. In the 25th minute Vlahovic is finally seen shooting, who from a standstill calls Flekken to another rebound. While Bremer shortly after fails to deflect Di Maria’s tense corner into the net, a stone’s throw from the goal line. The last thrill of the first half is given by Cuadrado, who engages Flekken from outside, with Vlahovic imprecise header on the rebound.

OF MAGIC

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The second half starts with the same canvas, but with a change: Fagioli for Miretti. Ready and go, Di Maria brush for Vlahovic’s head: hit in advance on the marker, but high ball. Juve insisted and in the 53rd minute the Freiburg block finally fell, in the least expected way: Kostic’s cross from the left and a winning header by… Di Maria. Not exactly the best of the Fideo repertoire, which on this occasion thanks Gunter’s fatal sleep. Down by a goal, Streich tries to give him a jolt: Doan and Keitel take the place of Sallai and Eggestein. In the 64th minute thrill for Juve, when Holer pitted Szczesny in turn on the developments of a scrum generated by a set piece by Grifo. The Var saves the Lady: the referee Sidiropoulos, after an on-field review, punishes Ginter’s touch of the hands, which even if unintentionally turns into an assist for the guest goalscorer. Thus we remain on 1-0 and Allegri throws Chiesa into the fray for Vlahovic, dry for the fifth game in a row between the cups and the championship. However, the match has now changed, with Freiburg more enterprising and Juve closing, perhaps even too much, rather than trying to double. Grifo misses the goal on a free-kick for a while in the 75th minute. To try to regain meters, Allegri then inserts Kean for Kostic, with Chiesa passing on the left wing. The former Fiorentina player, however, suffered an injury immediately afterwards and, while remaining on the pitch to help the team, played half serve as a forward, with Kean sacrificing himself as a winger. Freiburg also tries, but with little construct, creating little or nothing in the final. In Germany, Streich’s team will have to do much more to overturn the black and white lead.