Angel Di Maria admits he had been ‘waiting a long time for an opportunity like this’ with Juventus, scoring a hat-trick away to Nantes and securing their passage to the Europa League last 16.
The Bianconeri knew the pressure was on them to win in France after a disappointing 1-1 home draw in the first leg, and former PSG star Di Maria seemed to be exhilarated by being back across the Alps again.
Within five minutes, he had opened the scoring with a spectacular curler into the far top corner, then earned and converted a penalty that also saw Nicolas Pallois sent off, before his late header completed the hat-trick.
“I am truly happy to have been able to finish off the good work of the team and turn it into goals,” Di Maria told Sky Sport Italia.
“We wanted to get through to the next round, the Europa League is very important for us. I had been waiting a long time for an opportunity like this with the Juve jersey and I have been able to raise the bar.
“I try to help the team, we won and are in the Round of 16. This result means a great deal for our season, winning here with the entire stadium cheering against us, but we got what we wanted.”
While in the first few months of his Juventus career, Di Maria was criticised for focusing more on Argentina and the World Cup, he has now become almost too important to the Bianconeri.
“I know that there was criticism and I felt bad because I knew I could’ve given more. It took me a while to find my form, then I had relapses with the injury. It wasn’t easy on a psychological level either, but I am happy now.”