Nantes were eliminated from the Europa League playoff round following their 3-0 home loss at the hands of Juventus. I Bianconeri prevailed at La Beaujoire thanks to an Ángel Di María hat-trick. Les Canaris were already two goals and a man down at the 20th minute after centre-back Nicolas Pallois was sent off for a handball in the box, with Di María scoring the subsequent penalty. Nantes midfielder Moussa Sissoko deemed the decision to be harsh. “At 2-0 down, we knew it was an almost impossible mission“, said the former Tottenham player in the mixed zone that Get French Football News attended. “We tried to defend as best as we could but we wasted energy in trying to get the ball back.”
Moussa Sissoko reacts to Nantes’ Europa League defeat to Juventus:
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) February 23, 2023
“There's a lot of disappointment. We gave ourselves the right to dream. Di María scored a genius goal. We're frustrated. But we can be proud of what we achieved.” pic.twitter.com/eWomzlybII
Sissoko was replaced at the break by Samuel Moutoussamy with Nantes head coach Antoine Kombouaré trying to revive his side, ultimately in vain as Juventus controlled proceedings in the second half. “We lost against a better team than ours“, assessed Sissoko. The French international midfielder underlined his side exceeded all expectations, as shown by the 1-1 draw salvaged at Turin last week. “We can be proud of what we achieved.”
Nantes will try to forget that wretched Thursday evening by winning against arch-rivals Rennes on Sunday. Then, they will host Lens for a Coupe de France quarter-final tie behind closed doors on Wednesday.
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
