Angel Di Maria scored a hat-trick as Juventus eased to a 3-0 win at 10-man Nantes on Thursday to reach the Europa League round of 16 on 4-1 aggregate.
Juventus only managed a 1-1 draw against the French side in the home leg as it eyed a long run in the European competition to boost a miserable campaign in which it has been deducted 15 Serie A points for financial irregularities.
Argentine Di Maria put Juventus ahead after five minutes with a delightful curling strike from the edge of the box into the top corner.
The evening got worse for Nantes after 18 minutes when defender Nicolas Pallois was sent off when he used his arm to stop another goal from Di Maria. The 35-year-old Di Maria had no problem converting the resulting penalty.
Filip Kostic was close to getting a third for Juventus in first-half stoppage time, but his shot hit the inside of the post and the rebound landed in the hands of Nantes keeper Alban Lafont.
Juve’s Alex Sandro sent in a diving header late in the second half but Lafont was down quickly to make an impressive one-handed save.
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Di Maria completed his treble 12 minutes from time when he sent in a glancing header and the ball just crossed the line before being pushed away.
It was Juve’s first hat-trick in a UEFA competition away from home since Filippo Inzaghi in 2000.
The draw for the round of 16 will be held on Friday.
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