Second-half goals by Nicolo Fagioli and Gleison Bremer earned Juventus a comfortable 2-0 win against Cremonese, placed second from bottom, in Serie A on Sunday, but the result was soured by another injury to midfielder Paul Pogba.

Pogba, who returned to Juventus last summer but has struggled with injury since, began the game well as he started a match for the first time since last April when he played for Manchester United at Liverpool.

But the Frenchman only lasted a little over 20 minutes before he injured himself again and left the field in tears, heading straight down the tunnel as he was replaced by Arkadiusz Milik.

Italian media reported that the midfielder, who also started his first Serie A game since May 2016, suffered a muscle issue.

Second-placed Juventus on Thursday travel to Sevilla for their Europa League semi-final second leg with the tie poised at 1-1

They moved eight points clear of fifth-placed AC Milan in the battle for a top-four finish and a Champions League spot.

Marseille hopes alive

Olympique de Marseille maintained their hopes of securing a Champions League group stage spot for next season when they beat already-relegated Angers 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

Alexis Sanchez cancelled out Abdallah Simah’s surprise opener in the first half before Dimitri Payet and Jordan Veretout’s penalty after the break put third-placed Marseille on 73 points with three matches left.

They trail second-placed RC Lens, who are now sure of finishing in the top three, by two points and leaders Paris St Germain by eight.

The first two teams in Ligue 1 qualify for the Champions League group stage while the third-placed team goes into the third qualifying round.