Massimiliano Allegri has left Paul Pogba out of the Juventus squad for disciplinary reasons against SC Freiburg and Peter Young believes the Old Lady must avoid an uptick in tensions with the coach, as happened at Manchester United under José Mourinho.
The decision is reported to have been made after Pogba arrived late for Wednesday evening’s retreat.
The Frenchman’s exclusion comes just two games into his long-awaited return to action, having only made his first appearance for the Bianconeri in the Derby della Mole against Torino on February 28.
An injury to his meniscus in July has meant that the 29-year-old has not yet started for Juve since his return from Manchester United in the summer of 2022.
Now, he will miss out on the opportunity to help his team progress to the last eight of the Europa League when the Old Lady takes on Freiburg at the Allianz Stadium on Thursday.
This is not the first time Pogba has been sidelined due to disciplinary measures in his career.
During his second stint at Old Trafford, the Frenchman was involved in training ground bust-ups and arguments with club management on a number of occasions, most notably whilst playing under Jose Mourinho.
The current Roma manager had temporarily handed Pogba the armband at Old Trafford in the absence of club captain Antonio Valencia at the beginning of 2018-19, only to revoke his decision by September.
Mourinho went on to insist that Pogba would not captain the club again.
Despite initially being kept in United’s starting line-up, a run of poor form and a deteriorating relationship with Mourinho led to Pogba being dropped to the bench for a number of important fixtures and rumours of a January exit soon began to make headlines.
That particular incident wasn’t necessarily the final nail in the coffin for Pogba’s time with Manchester United, however it was the beginning of a downward spiral from which he never fully recovered.
In glimpses, Pogba was able to showcase the mercurial talent that once made him the most expensive footballer in history, but consistency, both in performances and appearances, was rarely seen after the falling out with Mourinho.
Of course, Allegri knows Pogba better than most in the world of football. He knows what he is doing and if leaving Pogba out for the game against Freiburg is of benefit to the rest of the team, then it is surely a decision worth taking.
However, Allegri will need to keep a keen eye on the situation to avoid another public falling out like the one between Pogba and Mourinho.
Juve will be hoping that Pogba learns his lesson and uses the setback to fuel his motivation to get back into Allegri’s starting line-up.