ANGEL DI MARIA scored a hat-trick as Juventus reached the next stage of the Europa League with a 3-0 second leg win over Nantes.
The result allowed the Italian giants to progress 4-1 on aggregate.
Argentine World Cup winner Di Maria opened the scoring after five minutes and then added a 20th-minute penalty.
Di Maria completed his hat-trick in the 78th minute, in a game where the French side had been reduced to 10 men after just a quarter of an hour when Nicolas Pallois was red-carded for handball.
“After we were knocked out of the Champions League, some people might have thought the Europa League would be a walk in the park for Juventus, but it is not that simple,” said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“This was an important match, but it was not perfect. We still have work to do. There were things I was not happy with this evening.”
Jose Mourinho’s Roma also made it to Friday’s last 16 draw as a 2-0 win overturned a one-goal deficit from the first leg against Salzburg. Andrea Belotti and Paulo Dybala scored in a seven-minute first-half spell to secure the win.
Six-time champions Sevilla went down to a 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands but progressed 3-2 on aggregate. Luuk de Jong and Fabio Silva hit late goals for the Dutch team who had Mauro Junior sent off in stoppage time.
Sporting Lisbon were also amongst the winners, a 4-0 victory at Midtjylland in Denmark sealing a 5-1 victory. Union Berlin, who are riding high in the Bundesliga, defeated Ajax 3-1 after the first leg had ended goalless last week.
