Paris St Germain forward Angel Di Maria was spurred on by the hostile crowd at Manchester United on Tuesday, the French club’s manager Thomas Tuchel said.
Di Maria was United’s record signing in 2014 when he was bought for 59.7 million pounds ($77.04 million) but an underwhelming debut season under then-manager Louis Van Gaal led to the Argentina international’s departure to PSG a year later.
In the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday, the 30-year-old was booed by fans and had a beer bottle thrown in his direction but he had the last laugh by having a hand in both PSG goals in a 2-0 win.
“He had a hard time in the first half, the guy is very competitive. If you tease him, it does not make him weaker,” Tuchel told reporters.
“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.”