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 manager Maurizio Sarri has heaped praises on his players after restarting their Serie A campaign with a 2-0 win over Bologna on Monday. Portuguese veteran Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentine youngster Paulo Dybala were on the scoresheet for the Bionconeri at the empty Dall’Ara Stadium.
Juventus had come into the match after narrowly missing out the Coppa Italia title to Napoli on penalties a few days back.
“Today we were more brilliant from a physical point of view. We had 70 minutes of good intensity, with good rhythm and good accelerations,” Sarri was quoted as saying on the official website of Juventus.
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As fielded by Sarri, Federico Bernardeschi started in the three-man forward line alongside Ronaldo and Dybala.
“Bernardeschi has done well also in the last two entries, he gave the feeling of being in a good moment, and he also played on excellent levels, working well even in the defensive phase. I am satisfied with what he has done, he deserves it: he is often underestimated,” the former Chelsea boss said.
About the two scorers of the night, Ronaldo and Dybala, the 61-year-old said, “Having individuality at this level solves certain games, but we must put ourselves in the position to both exploit them as much as possible and to remain a team.”
The first breakthrough came in the 23rd minute after Dutch midfielder Matthis de Ligt was fouled inside the Bologna box and Portuguese veteran Ronaldo converted a regulation penalty.
The defending Serie A champions then extended the lead 13 minutes later when Argentine striker Dybala put on display a moment of magic. Bernardeschi’s smart back-heel found the 27-year-old who unleashed a brilliant twist-and-turn effort from the edge of the box with both power and precision.
“Bernardeschi was good at finding me, then I took advantage with the movement, because probably the defender thought I would give him back the ball,” Dybala said after the match.
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