Juventus star Angel Di Maria, on Thursday, etched his name into the history books of the Europa League.
Veteran attacker Di Maria, of course, took his place centre stage in the headlines earlier this evening.
This came owing to his exploits en route to Juventus’ comfortable victory over Ligue 1 outfit Nantes.
After being held to a disappointing 1-1 stalemate in the opening leg of their Europa League Last-32 tie in Turin last week, Massimiliano Allegri’s Juve made the trip to the western France, eyeing both a more dominant performance, and result.
And, when all was said and done at the Stade de la Beaujoire, this is precisely what the Old Lady managed, owing to a night to remember for that man Di Maria.
Amid a remarkable all-round performance, the Argentine netted all three of his side’s goals, including a contender for Goal of the Tournament:
Watch and admire… Angel Di Maria 🤩
The Argentinian gives Juventus the lead at the Stade de la Beaujoire with a beautiful goal!#UEL pic.twitter.com/K7RfH1mUtW
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 23, 2023
In addition, it saw the former Manchester United and Real Madrid man secure for himself a piece of history.
As revealed by statisticians Opta, since the competition was rebranded as the Europa League back in 2009, no player has placed more shots on target in a single fixture than Di Maria’s seven against Nantes.
7 – No player has landed more shots on target in a single Europa League game (since the competition was rebranded in 2009-10) than the seven Ángel Di María had this evening against Nantes. Mission. pic.twitter.com/pS1kIGcSDc
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 23, 2023
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