Paul Pogba made his long-awaited return to football in the Serie A matchup between city rival Torino and Juventus, where the Bianconeri won 4-2. Pogba came off the bench in the 69th minute with the score tied at 2-2 and helped the Bianconeri win.
Gleison Bremer, a former Torino defender, and Adrien Rabiot, a former Torino player, scored late on for La Vecchia Signora to win the "Derby della Mole" and move up to seventh in Serie A. The Old Lady is now 10 points behind Lazio for fourth place and the final Champions League qualification spot.
Pogba, a star player for France, has not played in a competitive game in 315 days. The last time he wore a Manchester United uniform was on April 19, 2022, when the Red Devils lost 4-0 to Liverpool.
Pogba returned to Turin as a free agent in July 2022 after a disappointing few years in England. However, the midfield maestro suffered an injury to his right meniscus only two weeks after signing a four-year contract.
He was initially out for two months, but he never fully recovered, so he had surgery and missed the World Cup, where France made it to the final.
Massimiliano Allegri, the club's coach, was pleased with Pogba's return, his second appearance after a trophy-laden run from 2012 to 2016 when he made a then-record transfer to Manchester United.
We are pleased that Pogba is back with us after a long absence. We need everyone available because we have a game every three days,” Allegri stated to Sky Sport Italia and DAZN following the game.
It is hoped that the World Cup winner's return to competitive football will mark the end of a turbulent year for the 29-year-old.
His home was broken into while his two children were asleep on his birthday in March of last year, while he was playing in Manchester United's Champions League match against Atlético Madrid. He later disclosed that among the stolen items was the World Cup winner's medal.
"Sometimes, you don't know you're depressed," the France star said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro about his time in Manchester. You only want to be by yourself and isolate yourself, and these are not deceptive signs.
Mathias Pogba, Pogba's brother, was arrested in August by French police in response to extortion allegations made by Paul's legal team.
The accusations were made after his brother made a series of videos in English, French, Spanish, and Italian for Instagram in which he said he would make "great revelations" about his brother's behavior and that of his agent, Rafaela Pimenta.
Russia, Moscow, July 15: During the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final between France and Croatia at Luzhniki Stadium on July 15, 2018, in Moscow, Russia, Paul Pogba of France (c) celebrates victory with mother Yeo and brother Mathias. (Getty Images/Shaun Botterill) Paul Pogba's brother has been detained on suspicion of extortion, according to a lawyer. Pogba's forgettable 2022 was capped by his absence from the Qatar World Cup, where France narrowly lost to Argentina on penalties.
Pogba's return to the Juve team comes at a crucial time as the Italian giant tries to close the gap with the top four teams in Serie A. In January, the club received a 15-point penalty from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for false accounting.
According to the FIGC, the punishment is a component of the "plusvalenze" (italics for "capital gains") investigation into Juventus and ten other clubs for "having accounted for capital gains and players' rights to services in their financial reports for values exceeding those permitted by accounting standards."
Additionally, Juve wants European trophies; It faces German club Freiburg in the UEFA Europa League's round of 16 competition.
The team was eliminated from the Champions League group stage by Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica, two of the most powerful teams in Portugal. Juventus beat Nantes 4-1 overall to advance to the Europa League playoffs, where they will play Freiburg.
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