Pogba: Beating Juventus was strange

Paul Pogba explained his celebrations after Manchester United’s late winner against his former club Juventus felt “strange” while paying tribute to the Red Devils’ staying power.

Jose Mourinho’s men were headed for a repeat of their 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford two weeks ago when Cristiano Ronaldo scored a magnificent 65th-minute volley but a late turnaround was made possible when Juan Mata curled in a free-kick four minutes from time.

Pogba then wheeled away in celebration after Alex Sandro put the ball into his own net under pressure from the France international with less than a minute left on the clock, but the World Cup-winning midfielder admitted he had mixed emotions.

“I celebrated, but it was strange,” he told BT Sport. “It might have touched a lot of people.

“Lovely, we won. I saw the [Juve] fans, they were very welcoming. I appreciate that.

“We played against a good team with very good players, but the most important thing is the three points.

“I think it’s what we’ve been doing for the last few weeks, playing well together and doing well until the end.

“The game is always 90 minutes, we’re pushing, maybe have an extra bit of power at the end, we push it and score.”

There’s just something about Turin! #MUFC #UCL pic.twitter.com/MM0TstEZpZ

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 7, 2018

Mata, who came on as a substitute seven minutes before scoring, revealed that his goal came after additional training sessions to focus on free-kicks, and suggested he could be in line for more cameo roles in future.

The 30-year-old’s goal was his third of the season in all competitions and his first in the Champions League since September 2015.

“I have confidence on free-kicks at the moment,” said Mata.

“I train a lot after training, some goalkeepers help me a lot. Maybe in the future in football there will be those instances when you come on, take a free-kick and then go back to the bench.”