Europa League: Juventus qualify for the quarter-finals with two Argentines on the field, even if Di María and Paredes remain on the bench

With Angelo Di Maria and Leandro Paredesas luxury spectators from the substitutes’ benchJuventus beat Freiburg 2-0 and qualified for the quarterfinals of the Europa League. The world champions did not add minutes, but Matias Soulé and Enzo Barrenechea Yes they did.

At the beginning of the match, both win and draw were the results that served Old lady. After the 1-0 obtained a week ago in Turin, he left the German team with the obligation to score a victory to get a ticket for the next round.

The match had a first half with a great pace of play. Juventus didn’t come out to defend themselves and Freiburg, from the first moment, tried to stay in the rival field. Lots of clutches, lots of fouls, lots of intensity, but few goal chances, at least in the first few minutes.

After 25 minutes, on a blocked ball, Allegri’s team managed to score. Bremer connects with his header after a forward pass, the ball hits the crossbar, Moise Kean misses the shot when the ball remains and Dusan Vlahovic, turning around, capitalizes on the action. However, the Serbian, who had gone 8 games without scoring and celebrated with great relief, was behind goalkeeper Mark Flekken and, alone, there was only one player behind the goalkeeper. Offside and correct decision by the VAR.

But Juventus, after the disallowed goal, fared better. He started moving the ball, finding space and having more presence in the middle of the pitch. Finally, when the first half was about to die, Federico Gatti, who was in the rival area, finished and the ball bounced off Manuel Gulde’s hand.

The German defender, booked, sees the second card and is sent off. Double punishment for Freiburg: they remain with one man down and a penalty is awarded. Vlahovic, who wanted to break free from the losing streak and was left with the thorn of the disallowed goal, took responsibility.

When referee Serdar Gözübüyük blew his whistle, the forward shot hard and to the centre, the ball rebounded off Mark Flekken’s footing, who went to his left, but ended up hitting the goal.

The second half didn’t have much action. Logically, Juventus were already serene with the result and, therefore, protected their lines a bit and tried to take possession of the ball. Freiburg, for their part, tried to tackle the rest of the match, but playing with 10 players made it very uphill.

And when the game entered its last minute, Federico Chiesa, who entered the plug in the 25th minute, received a pass from Adrien Rabiot and, with plenty of time inside the box, placed the ball against the left post.

Enzo Barrenechea, 21-year-old footballer trained at Newell’s Old Boys, who is taking his first steps with the Italian team and came on 7 minutes from the end. For his part, Matias Soule came on as the 90 minutes expired. Ángel Di María and Leandro Paredes covered the entire match from the substitutes’ bench.

With this victory, the Old Lady has qualified for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League and hopes to discover their rival at the time of the draw this Friday 17 March.