Paul Pogba and Juventus agree to terminate contract
Paul Pogba and Juventus have mutually agreed to part ways as the French midfielder faces an 18-month ban from football.
Juventus cruised to a 4-1 victory over Udinese in a warm-up for the Bianconeri’s decisive Champions League clash next week with Atletico Madrid.
Juve, who lead Serie A by 19 points over Napoli, had little to fear from 15th-place Udinese and coach Massimiliano Allegri felt confident enough to leave Cristiano Ronaldo, Mario Mandzukic and defensive anchor Giorgio Chiellini on the bench on Friday night, reports Efe news.
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Two other starters, Miralem Pjanic and Joao Cancelo, missed the game due to suspension, but will be available for the Champions round-of-16 second leg in Turin against Atletico, who prevailed 2-0 at home in the first leg.
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In the absence of Juve’s big guns, 19-year-old Moise Kean notched a brace for the hosts and drew a penalty to set up a third goal.
Juventus boosted their record to 24 wins and three draws for a total of 75 points, making the side a virtual lock to win an eighth consecutive Serie A title.
Paired with Federico Bernardeschi up front, Kean opened the scoring in the 11th minute with his first Serie A goal, getting an assist from Alex Sandro.
The youngster’s second goal came on a brilliant individual effort in the 39th minute, when he cut off a ball from Udinese’s Seko Fofana in midfield, raced 30 yards and caught the visiting goalkeeper off guard to make it 2-0 for Juve.
Kean forced a penalty in the 67th minute and Emre Can converted to increase Juve’s lead to 3-0. Blaise Matuidi made it 4-0 in the 71st, heading in a cross from Rodrigo Bentancur.
Udinese’s Kevin Lasagna scored a consolation goal for the visitors in the 85th minute.
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