Mbappe and Cavani are suffering from injuries and Neymar missed the match through suspension but Di Maria didn’t let their absence to be felt in the Parc des Princes.
Real Madrid crashed out of of the Champions League last season after a 4-1 loss to Ajax and also finished third in LaLiga. The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2018 is still haunting the side.
Real Madrid have splashed out more than €300 m on new signings this summer but none of them were able to stop this humiliation. They have started this season exactly from where they left at the end of last season. Their lack of good quality midfielders and lacklustre defending and on top of that the very poor form of Courtois under the bar is still continuing from the last season.
PSG were missing their 1st choice front three. Mbappe and Cavani are injured and Neymar is facing suspension. But the quality they have on the bench this season were at display the last night. Angel Di Maria, former Real Madrid player who won the MOTM for Madrid in their 2014 Champions League win, is perhaps the most under-rated winger in football. He shone brightly in the absence of Neymar, Mbappe and Cavani and was all over the place in the Parc des Princes. He scored a brace to punish a weakened Real Madrid side who were lacking determination and intensity.
Zidane was able to choose the front three of Hazard, Benzema and Bale for the 1st time this season. But it resulted in nothing as to the surprise of everyone Real Madrid didn’t even manage a shot on target in the whole match.
Hazard had few chances but he fired the shot slightly wide of goal and Gareth Bale attempted a fine shot on goal but it was later ruled out by VAR citing handball from Bale. Benzema also had one effort ruled for offside. Other than these few chances Real Madrid were behind PSG in every department. The PSG midfielders Veratti, Marquinhos, Sarabia and Gueye were running the show. Along with that, Di Maria was all over the final third.
Idrissa Gueye was everywhere for PSG, dominating the midfield in a way that offered Marco Verratti more creative license. PSG signed him from Everton this season and he was brilliant last night. The Senegal international showed great energy to maintain the high press and stifle Madrid, while also adding an assist for Di Maria’s second goal.
Paris Saint-Germain head coach Thomas Tuchel said to RMC Sport: “I’m very happy with the whole team because it was really difficult. We had a lot of chances, but there were also some stages for Real where we suffered. But we stayed structured, always tight, aggressive and compact. Really, it was a complete performance.
Mbappe and Neymar saw the match, and they have to do what the others did on their return. A problem for the coach? That’s good, but we are happy to have such a team, which was not always the case. We can make a good team match without our stars, and it’s absolutely necessary. I should make tough decisions, but it’s good, the competition must be like that in a club like PSG.”
Tuchel also heaped praise on Gueye: “It’s good that he’s with us. He is very important to us, he has a lot of qualities and he is very humble. He is huge. He was there with Marquinhos in the middle, and it was a good partnership. We are happy with their match.”
Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid head coach told a news conference, via AS: “They have surpassed us in everything, especially what bothers me is the intensity. At this level, in this competition, it is complicated if you don’t enter the field well. They have surpassed us.
They are good at creating chances. What has worried me is to see my team without the necessary intensity. We know that the opponent was going to put a lot of pressure on us. We have almost never entered the game. We had only two chances and made two goals, but the VAR has ruled them out.”
Zidane further added: “We are all in the same boat. When we win, we all win. And when we lose, we all lose. I don’t want to point at anyone. It is everyone’s fault when it is lost.
I didn’t like not creating opportunities with the players we have on the field. It is what it is. We have almost never entered the game. I am not worried. Normally we have occasions.”
After such a humiliating defeat Real Madrid now need to look at themselves in a hard manner. They need to freshen up their ideas and build coordination and understanding in the team in order to prevent a disastrous season like the previous season.
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