Di Maria shines in Europa League again

Di Maria scored with a mighty header after Filip Kostic's cross in the 53rd minute. This was the fourth goal of the 2022 World Cup champion in two consecutive Europa League matches. Before that, he scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Nantes in the second leg of the play-off round.

Juventus started the first leg of the round of 16 without Paul Pogba. The French midfielder was left out of the squad due to being late to the team meeting. Freiburg lost Daniel-Kofi Kyereh and Jeong Woo-yeong to injuries, but there was the return of Michael Gregoritsch.

With home field advantage, Juventus played more proactively. The two-time European champions have finished 13 times, six times more than the fifth-placed team in the Bundesliga. Freiburg tried to control the ball to relieve pressure, but it was almost impossible to organize an attack towards the goal of goalkeeper Szczesny.

Juventus created the first significant chance with Adrien Rabiot's cross from the corner 13 minutes into the match. Flekken keeper had to use his foot to keep the ball away. After that, the house continued to threaten with free kicks from Juan Cuadrado, Dusan Vlahovic or a header from Bremer.

Early in the second half, Vlahovic continued to miss when he headed out after Di Maria's cross. However, goalkeeper Flekken had to go into the net to pick up the ball after the 2002 World Cup champion's header.

The German team put the ball into the net of Juventus in the 62nd minute, when Lucas Holer shot from 12 yards after a teammate's free kick. However, VAR did not recognize the goal because Matthias Ginter had previously let the ball touch his hand.

The 1-0 victory gives Juventus a big advantage, before the two teams play the second leg in Germany on March 16.