Paul Pogba dropped from Juventus squad for Europa League tie against Freiburg for disciplinary reasons - report
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Updated 09/03/2023 at 17:13 GMT
Paul Pogba has only made two appearances for Juventus since rejoining the club from Manchester United on a free transfer in the summer, and now the France international has been dropped from the squad for the last-16 Europa League tie at home to Freiburg for reportedly turning up late to training. It has not been the ideal return to Turin for the midfielder, who has been dogged by injuries.
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Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has been dropped for his side’s Europa League tie with Freiburg for disciplinary reasons.
The 29-year-old only made his second debut for the Serie A club on February 28 as a result of a knee injury, coming off the bench in a 4-2 win over rivals Torino.
And in a further blow, Juventus manager Max Allegri has now omitted the France international from his squad for the last-16 Europa League tie with Freiburg in Turin as punishment for turning up late for training, as first reported by Italian publication Gazzettta Dello Sport.
In a press conference ahead of Thursday's clash, Allegri said that Pogba had faced a setback following his recent return from a six-month injury lay-off.
"Yesterday Pogba did a good training session, today he rested, tomorrow morning we will know if he is available," the Juventus boss told reporters.
"Today he didn't work with the team. I think he's available, but we'll see."
Allegri added that he wanted to see his side produce a positive response from the loss to Roma.
"I want to see a positive attitude tomorrow and lay the foundations by taking a lead into the second leg. Freiburg are physically strong, they are fifth [on goal difference] in the league, unbeaten in Europe, but we have to get back to winning at home - between the Champions League and Europa League, we’ve only managed one win," the Juventus coach said.
Pogba joined Juventus from Manchester United on a free transfer in the summer, his final appearance coming in April 2022 when he suffered a calf injury in a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool which ruled him out for the remainder of last season.
He missed the World Cup after suffering a knee injury in pre-season, finally returning to the Juventus squad in January before another muscular problem delayed his return to action further.
Pogba was a second-half substitute for Juventus’ 1-0 league defeat to Roma on Sunday. The result left Allegri’s side seventh in the Serie A table after the club was deducted 15 points in January as a result of the investigation into the plusvalenza capital gains case.
The Bianconeri dropped into the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group behind Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain.
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