Pogba is in line to make his first Juventus start against Freiburg
Paul Pogba sustained a knee injury in pre-season that cost him more than three months on the sidelines, in addition to the 2022 World Cup. After suffering another setback, the Frenchman is in line to make his first Juve start in his second spell.
Following his free transfer to Juventus and on the back of his controversial time at Manchester United, Paul Pogba suffered an injury that kept him out for most of the season. He made his long-awaited second Juve debut in their 4-2 victory over Torino last month and appeared from the bench in Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Roma.
Ahead of their Europa League clash with Freiburg, Massimiliano Allegri is hopeful that the French midfielder make his first start of the season on Thursday. He said: "Yesterday [Tuesday] he did a good workout, today [Wednesday] he was separate from the group. Tomorrow [Thursday] morning we'll understand if he can be available.
"He didn't work with the team [on Wednesday]. I think he will be available, but we'll see."
After a disappointing 1-1 draw at home with Nantes, a hat-trick from Angel Di Maria fired Juve to the next round of the competition. Allegri acknowledges his side needs an improved home display.
"We want to lay the foundations for the second leg," he said. "They are physically strong, they are fifth in Germany, they are unbeaten in Europe.
"We have to go back to winning at home – in the Champions League and in the Europa League we only got one win [at the Allianz Stadium this season].
"So we'll need attention, otherwise we'll have to do the same as against Nantes. We have to win on Thursday, whether it's by one or two goals – it won't be easy, it will be balanced."
Filip Kostic, who previously won the tournament with Eintracht Frankfurt last season, added: "I know the competition, I won it with Eintracht – it was our dream to win the Europa League. With Juventus it's different, the goals were different, but now we want to win it.
"They are a tough, compact, solid opponent. To win this Europa League – which is our main objective – we will have to overcome them. We want to get as far as possible and we go game by game."
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