Freiburg coach Christian Streich admits Angel Di Maria is ‘just fantastic to watch, even as an opponent,’ but the Europa League Round of 16 with Juventus is still wide open.
The Bianconeri dominated the first leg of this Round of 16 tie, but were only able to break through with a Di Maria header on the Filip Kostic cross to seal the 1-0 result.
The Germans thought they had scored the equaliser with Lucas Holer, but it was disallowed after a VAR review showed the assist was a Mattias Ginter handling offence.
“Juventus gave everything and were very aggressive on the field. We played against a very strong team, unfortunately our goal was disallowed, but we tried everything to draw level and in doing so ran the risk of conceding a second,” said Streich in his press conference.
“Juve deserved to win 1-0, but now the second leg is all to play for. We’ll do everything we can to make something special happen.”
Argentina international and World Cup winner Di Maria has scored each of Juve’s last four goals in the Europa League, confirming his quite extraordinary campaign.
“He is a player who, even as an opponent, is just fantastic to watch. A feast for the eyes. We tried everything to stop him today, but he has so much football intelligence, quality and experience.
“I saw that Di Maria had cramp at the end, which also shows you how hard he was working for Juventus. Di Maria is a delight for anyone who is passionate about football.”