admin In the absence of Paul Pogba, Angel Di Maria kicked off its season with a 3-0 win over Sassuolo.
The cheers raised by the impressive performance of the 34-year-old Di Maria was quickly quietened when he had to walk off in the 66th minute with an apparent injury to his left adductor muscle and a pained expression.
The coach of Juventus, Massimiliano Allegri, tried to lighten the mood by saying that Di Maria simply looks like that. “But he always has that face,” he said in good humor. He also informed me that the player had had the same problem a few days ago. Overall, he did not seem too worried. “He had this little adductor problem a week ago, too, but I am not worried. We’ll see what the outcome of the tests is tomorrow.”
The arrival of Di Mara saw less fanfare when compared to the fanfare that Pogba received last month. Di Mara joined on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain only days before Pogba completed his return to Juventus.
But Pogba was one of a number of players who were absent for the opener. Wojciech Szczesny, Goalkeeper for Juventus, Federico Chiesa and Kaio Jorge were injured as well. On the other hand, Moise Kean and Adrien Rabiot were suspended. Weston McKennie, however, had recovered from injury and was included in the opening.
It was a slow start from Juventus. There was hardly any sign of the sudden turn of events as Sassuolo had several chances to take the lead. But it was the Biaonceri who helped break the deadlock in the 26th minute when Alex Sandro floated in a cross and the scuffed volley of Di Maria went into the ground and looped into the top left corner.
Juventus quickly doubled its lead with three minutes still remaining before halftime as Vlahovic shot a penalty straight down the middle after being brought down by Sassuolo defender Gian Marco Ferrari.
Di Maria also had a chance to double his tally in an amazing fashion; shortly after the break he raced from inside his own half and into the penalty area before curling an effort that went just wide of the left post
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