Di Maria’s frustrating spell at Manchester United after a then British record £59.7m move from Real Madrid was reflected in the barrage of jeers that accompanied him throughout this Champions League tie. The Argentine, often poorly utilised by manager Louis van Gaal, lasted only a year before leaving United for Paris in a £44.3m deal having never produced his finest form.
Here, to their pain, Manchester United and their fans witnessed exactly what they could have had. Di Maria shrugged off the abuse, and a needless barge from Ashley Young that sent him flying painfully downhill and into Old Trafford’s cinder track in the first half, to make contributions of real significance in PSG’s win. And how he enjoyed it.
It was his corner that fell to Kimpembe for the opener and he showed what he was really all about when he outpaced United’s retreating defence and put the second on the plate for Mbappe as he arrived with perfect timing. Di Maria was given a standing ovation by PSG’s fans when he was replaced late on after finally showing his real worth at ‘The Theatre Of Dreams’.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer spoke to BT Sport after the game and said: “They had the momentum after the first goal and controlled the game. You could see that we hadn’t played at this level for a while and we will have to learn. It was an experience that can go either way; it’s not going to be a season-defining one, it’s one we have to learn from.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was also asked about injuries to fowards Jesse Lingard and Tony Martial, he said “You can’t say that’s a reason. We had quality players to come on but Lingard and Martial give us something and let’s hope they are not too serious. They are muscle injuries; we have to wait a couple of days.”
“Paul Pogba is trying to get his body across and Dani Alves is clever enough to put his foot in there. Paul wants to shield the ball – he’s unlucky. Mountains are there to be climbed – you can’t lay down and say this is over. We will go there, play our game and improve from today. Today is a reality check for us.”
PSG boss Thomas Tuchel also spoke to the press immediatley after the match and he commended his team for a fantastic victory away at a difficult ground: “We lost too many easy balls in the first half but the second half was really excellent. We deserved to win, and to do so here at Old Trafford just now, I congratulate my team – but it’s only half-time and we still have to play at the Parc des Princes.”