Former Manchester United player and French superstar Paul Pogba made his debut on Saturday for AS Monaco against Rennes.
Paul Pogba didn’t get many minutes and couldn’t prevent defeat in his first game in over two years. AS Monaco lost 4-1 to Stade Rennais away at Roazhon Park.
Before the Ligue 1 match, Pogba (32) had not played since September 3, 2022, when he played for Juventus against Empoli.
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Since then, he has served a doping ban.
The Frenchman was originally given a four-year ban after a positive test for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) – a substance that can increase testosterone levels and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances – in February 2024, following a doping test in August 2023.
The ban was reduced to 19 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The 2018 World Cup winner has maintained that the drug entered his body accidentally via a dietary supplement he did not know contained a banned substance.
Pogba was allowed to return to football in March this year and signed a two-year contract with AS Monaco in June.
And after 811 days, the midfielder finally returned to the pitch on Saturday (23 November), coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute while his team were already 3-1 down, before Mika Biereth made it 4-1 for Rennes in injury time in the second half.
His debut for the club was also his very first appearance in Ligue 1, despite being born in France and having previously represented Le Havre at academy level.
So, how did it go?
Of course, as previously mentioned, he was only on the pitch for a little over 10 minutes, but this was still enough for fans to start talking.
At one point, he flushed one of his signature long-range passes to one of his teammates.
Fans were quick to react on social media.
One said: “He played for about 5 minutes and still showed quality. Søren, he’s about to go crazy and take back his place on France’s World Cup team.”
Another added: “The 7-minute performance of Pogba, just pure brilliance, he transcends what it means to be a midfielder, truly one of the best to ever do it.”
A third claimed: “So Pogba sent those passes on the rebound. I’ve missed this.”
While a fourth commented: “Paul Pogba is back… after everything he has been through. They tried to write him off, but you can’t erase a player who has given football so many magical moments. To see him smile and touch the ball again just feels right. Welcome back, Pogba. Football has missed you.”
Pogba could play in the Champions League when Monaco travel to Cyprus to face Paphos on November 26. He has not played in the tournament since March 2022, when he played for United against Atletico Madrid.
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