Di Maria hat-trick sends Juventus into last 16

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 4-1 on aggregate. Juventus only managed a 1-1 draw against the French side in the home leg as they eyed a long run in the European competition to boost […]

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 4-1 on aggregate.

Juventus only managed a 1-1 draw against the French side in the home leg as they eyed a long run in the European competition to boost a miserable campaign in which they have 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.

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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.

Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen also beat AS Monaco 5-3 on penalties after winning a frantic second leg of their Europa League playoff 3-2 to send the game into extra time with the teams locked at 5-5 on aggregate.

Monaco midfielder Eliot Matazo hit the bar in the second round of spot-kicks and winger Moussa Diaby sealed victory for the German side and sent them through to the last 16.