Paris Saint-Germain’s demolition of Barcelona in midweek was a performance of exceptional quality, the type of display that will go down in the history of the club and, quite rightly, be lauded as one of the Parc des Princes side’s all-time performances.
The 4-0 win was a cathartic success for head coach Unai Emery, whose sides back in his homeland of Spain were so often tortured by the Catalan giants. For the coach and his team, it was an important result, and though there were a raft of outstanding performers, for one man in particular, it marked a return to the peak of his powers.
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In the summer of 2015, Angel Di Maria was dumped unceremoniously by Manchester United after only a season at Old Trafford. When he was bought for a British record transfer fee of close to £60 million from Real Madrid, Louis van Gaal’s side thought were buying the player just named Man of the Match as Los Blancos won La Decima; what they got was an expensive failure.
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van Gaal did not help matters by persistently deploying the midfielder in different roles on an almost weekly basis, none of which really suited his attributes.
Less than 12 months after signing, he was sent from England in disgrace, accused of cowardice by fans and a lack of motivation by those inside the club. The Red Devils made a loss of over £15 million on the player over the course of a year and left as one of their great flops.
Life in Paris initially proved more to the 29-year-old Argentine’s liking. Unlike at United, where he was shunted in a variety of positions and given little chance to settle, he was deployed regularly on the wing and made a quietly successful season supporting Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
This term, however, there was a slump as Di Maria started the season poorly. His statistics reflected a lack of care to his performances and he started to regress to being the player so lamented by the red half of Manchester.
The criticism echoed that he received in England, as PSG made a lacklustre start to the season, finishing 2016 in third place in Ligue 1 and failing to overcome an average Arsenal side in their Champions League group.
Julian Draxler provided the unlikely spark to bring Di Maria back to life.
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The Germany international arrived in Paris in similar circumstances to the South American. One of the great hopes of his country, a lamentable 18-month spell at Wolfsburg saw him cast to Paris under a cloud.
A new challenge was just what he – and Di Maria – required. The 23-year-old has hit the ground running in a spectacular manner, scoring five times in just nine appearances for his new club, meaning the former Madrid man was suddenly relegated to the bench.
If Di Maria was not up to that fight with United, he has responded brilliantly with PSG. Over the course of the last month, he has been a player rejuvenated. In his last nine outings, he has scored three times – just one short of the tally he mustered in the whole of the first half of the campaign.
Any doubts over his form were eradicated spectacularly on Wednesday, when he opened the scoring with a deft free-kick before curling a superb second for himself early in the second half. It was his first double of the season and came from a player rapidly looking world class again.
Team-mate Thomas Meunier was emphatic as to why there has been such an incredible transformation in the South American.
“The competition,” the Belgian explained last Friday. “Everyone knows that places are expensive, that from one week to the next you could be on the bench or on the field.
“If we want to have a chance to play games, we have to really work at training and in the games, to show we’re capable – and that’s what happened.
“Draxler is a very, very good player, and everyone understands that. Angel, quite simply, doesn’t want to be a substitute. He’s been metamorphosed. He is just putting a little more in.”
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Suddenly things look a good deal rosier for Emery’s men, not only are they closing in on top spot in Ligue 1 for the first time this season – they can shut the gap to Monaco to just a single point if they beat Toulouse on Sunday – but they are also looking like potential Champions League winners.
And it is Di Maria who has elevated them to that level.
