Barça and Bayern suffered the Kylian Mbappé tornado, well helped by Neymar against the Bavarians.
Less visible against Manchester City (1-2), the two stars have left the nice role to Angel Di Maria, whose performance has long allowed PSG to stay alive in this round of the semi-finals of the Champions League .
Before cracking, if the Parisians dominated the Citizens, they owed it largely to the Argentinian, the most constant offensive element of the evening of Wednesday.
In the first half, the former Real Madrid winger fulfilled his first mission perfectly, the one desired by Mauricio Pochettino: to help Alessandro Florenzi in the right lane against the dangerous Manchester City wingers.
"We have a curtain of four players to defend in the middle," said the Parisian coach at the microphone of RMC Sport.
Through her activity brimming with energy, Di Maria has come close to perfection.
Once again, during the first period, the one where City were the most timid.
103 assists with PSG
Over these 45 minutes, the left-hander also made his precision speak. On a corner, twice. The first remote-controlled on the head of Marquinhos, too fast for the marking of Gündogan (15th). 1-0, perfect scenario. The same as in the summer of 2020 in the semi-final of the same Champions League, against RB Leipzig (3-0). A few minutes later, Di Maria puts it back on a corner for, this time, one of his specialties: the direct strike, which Ederson only pushes back with the tips of his gloves.
With the decisive pass for Marquinhos, Di Maria offered himself the 34th of his career in the biggest of European competitions, two units from his compatriot Lionel Messi. In total, he compiled 103 caviar under the Parisian jersey, enough to match Safet Susic, red and blue legend. Opposite, it was not RB Leipzig, the final score testifies, but Di Maria had wings for a long time. Until the hour of play approximately. Another action symbolizes his performance: a defensive return of madness in the feet of Joao Cancelo in front of his surface before raising the ball and sending Mbappé into orbit (59th).
Like his team, the winger then suffered, undoubtedly too much to continue his efforts, from the height of his 33 years. After the exclusion of Gueye (77th), Pochettino sacrifices Di Maria for the return of Danilo and preserve the score as the chances of qualification. Extended until 2022 last March, Di Maria still shows his ability to shine at the highest level. See you next Tuesday in Manchester, a city he hated during his time at United (2014-2015), to demonstrate it once again.