Juventus: Angel Di Maria taken out by referee on debut vs Guadalajara

Juventus’ 2022/23 pre-season campaign started in ideal fashion during the early hours of Saturday morning UK time.

The Bianconeri took on CD Guadalajara in the sweltering Las Vegas heat and came away with a 2-0 victory.

Striker Cosimo Marco Da Graca opened the scoring in just the 10th minute of play, before Mattia Compagnon secured victory in the 80th with a slick finish inside the penalty area.

Both Paul Pogba and Angel Di Maria made their debuts against Guadalajara, with the two new arrivals – who were each signed on free transfers – giving fairly good accounts of themselves.

Pogba and Manuel Locatelli’s midfield partnership looks like it could be a lethal one in 2022/23, while Di Maria was bright coming off the right flank and linking up with the other forward players.

But there was one slight downside to his Juventus debut for the experienced Argentine winger.

At one point in the match, Di Maria was absolutely clattered by the referee and left in a crumpled heap on the turf.

The match was hosted at the Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders, so the official clearly thought some NFL-style reaction was required…

The referee tackle on Angel Di Maria had me cackling pic.twitter.com/w9B67B1LqZ

Ouch. Of course, it was clearly an accident, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t still a sore one for poor ol’ Di Maria.

Fortunately, the ex-Paris Saint-Germain star was able to continue playing after the incident and he finished the first half.

As we previously touched on, Di Maria looked very bright in his first match wearing Juventus colours.

The left-footed flyer looks as if he’ll be a real asset to the Turin-based outfit in 2022/23 and may help bring the best out of Dusan Vlahovic.

Check out Di Maria’s individual