What’s the story?
Ex-Real Madrid and Manchester United winger Angel di Maria was congratulated by Real Madrid players after he helped beat Barcelona with his current club Paris Saint- Germain. The Paris winger who scored two brilliant goals in the game said “My friends in Madrid have already congratulated me, I lived the 5-0 defeat by Barcelona to Madrid and finished with the face that today they have finished with.”
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In case you didn’t know…
Barcelona lost to PSG 4-0 at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. No team has ever come back from a four-goal deficit in the first leg to qualify for the next round in the Champions League.
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Angel di Maria was instrumental in the win, scoring two sublime goals. The first from a free-kick just outside the Barcelona boss which he curled over the wall. The second one, as sublime (if not more), was after going past one player he opened his body to shoot into the far top hand corner leaving Barcelona stopper Marc-André ter Stegen with no chance.
The heart of the matter
Barcelona and Real Madrid have been age-old rivals. Angel di Maria, who played for Real Madrid from 2010 to 2014, was almost always lining up against probably the best club team of the last decade.
Naturally, he had to endure some difficult moments when the two sides met. Famously, Barcelona beat the La Liga leaders 5-0 in 2010, something the Argentine doesn’t fondly remember. Therefore it is no surprise that he had a laugh with his Real Madrid teammates.
Parallels from History
We have seen a lot of players taking pleasure in scoring against a particular opponent, as they were once their traditional rivals. Quite recently, Anthony Martial stated that he is desperate to score against St Etienne owing to the 20-year-old’s connections with Lyon (where he started his career).
Much more famously, Lazio fans had sent Sir Alex Ferguson a letter and a bottle of wine, when his Manchester United team beat AS Roma 7-1 in the Champions League.
Sporstkeeda’s Take
Rivalry in football is what makes things special. It is my club versus yours, so it is great to see players taking pleasure in their arch rivals losing. I am sure that even Barcelona players would have sent a text to one of their ex-players if he did a number on Real Madrid.
All in good fun, I would say.
