'Don't tease Angel Di Maria!' Man Utd abuse made PSG star stronger, says Thomas Tuchel

Di Maria had the last laugh at Old Trafford
EPA
Tom Doyle13 February 2019

Manchester United's bruising treatment of Angel Di Maria only made the PSG star more determined in Tuesday night's Champions League victory at Old Trafford, according to Thomas Tuchel.

Di Maria - who left United for PSG back in 2015 - had an eventful return to Old Trafford, with his first touch booed by the home fans.

PSG's fans were in fine voice in the first half, and they were nearly sent into raptures as Di Maria seemed to spring the offside trap and round De Gea, who recovered to make the save from his one-time team-mate.

The assistant belatedly raised his flag and replays showed the Argentinian had been offside as he latched on to Marquinhos' pass.

Di Maria was then sent crashing into the advertising hoardings after a coming together with Ashley Young, with tensions threatening to boil over as players from both sides remonstrated with the referee.

REUTERS

The 30-year-old recovered from that incident to grab the first of two assists, with Presnel Kimpembe turned home his exceptional corner delivery in the 53rd minute - and Di Maria reveled in his contribution by screaming at the United fans behind the goal.

Soon after, Di Maria was then hit by a plastic bottle thrown from a section of home supporters, but made light of the situation as he picked up a beer bottle and pretended to take a swig from it.

REUTERS

And Di Maria was not done there as he set up PSG's second goal of the night, with Kylian Mbappe sweeping home his low cross to put PSG in full control of the tie.

Di Maria was given a hostile send-off by the home section and a rousing reception by the PSG fans on his substitution.

REUTERS

Speaking to reporters after the game, PSG coach Tuchel said: "Angel di Maria is very competitive. If you tease him, it does not make him weaker.

"I thought he had a good relationship with the fans.

"He was a bit nervous and needed to be calmer in the first-half. In the end he did well."

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

In Pictures | Man Utd vs PSG | 12/02/2019

1/60

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in