Angel Di Maria, poison for OM and French football

Whether with Argentina, Juventus or Benfica, Angel Di Maria has often tortured the French teams, and in particular OM, whom he finds on Thursday in the quarter-final of the Europa League.

Marcelo Bielsa, Lucho Gonzalez, Lucas Ocampos… Olympique de Marseille have always loved the Argentinians, and vice versa. More than their sky and white standards, the two peoples share a distinct grinta and fervor, which naturally bring them together, like two sides of a magnet. But one Argentinian escapes the rule: Angel Di Maria.

And for good reason: the former PSG player has gotten used to shining against Marseille, and against French teams in general. Whether it is Nantes or Toulouse in the European Cup, or the Blues in the World Cup: all have suffered the law of the left-handed Rosario. When it comes time to challenge Angel Di Maria’s Benfica Lisbon, Thursday April 11, in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League, OM are therefore warned.

Good kisses from Paris

If Angel Di Maria takes part – as expected – in the quarter-final first leg and then the return leg next Thursday, Olympique de Marseille will become the team he has faced the most in his career, tied with FC Barcelona (19 matches) , and ahead of Olympique Lyonnais (18 matches). In the meantime, OM are already one of the Argentinian’s favorite prey, who scored five times and delivered six assists against the Phocaeans. All for twelve victories, four draws and only one small defeat.

Often in the shadow of Ibrahimovic, then Neymar and Mbappé at PSG, Angel Di Maria has always been present in the PSG-OM Classics. From his second, in 2016, he offered victory to his team at the Vélodrome, by scoring the winning goal (2-1). Marseille supporters have undoubtedly also not forgotten the meeting of March 17, 2019, at the Parc des Princes, which saw Di Maria make up for Neymar’s absence with two assists and a goal for a 3-1 victory.

But it’s not just OM that Angel Di Maria likes to torment. Since leaving PSG, the Argentinian has made a specialty of single-handedly eliminating French clubs that stand in his way. Last season, he shattered Nantes’ dream in the round of 32 of the Europa League, with Juventus. After snatching a draw in Turin in the first leg (1-1), the Canaries were defeated in their nest, swept aside 3-0 by Juventus with three goals scored… Angel Di Maria.

Scorer in the 2022 World Cup final

This season, it was Toulouse who saw their Europa League epic stopped dead in its tracks, again by Angel Di Maria, this time with Benfica Lisbon. Because if the Toulouse residents had long hoped for the return (1-1), their fate was sealed by their 2-1 defeat in the first leg, with a double… from Angel Di Maria, obviously. From there to making the Argentinian the bête noire of French clubs in the European Cup, there is only one step. Even more so if we recall the memories of September 2010, when the young “Fideo” (vermicelli, his nickname in Argentinian) offered victory to Real Madrid on the lawn of Auxerre, in the Champions League.

Fresher, but more painful, the memory of the 2022 World Cup final also remains in mind. Because Angel Di Maria is as comfortable against the French clubs as against the France team. During the 2018 World Cup, it was he who put Argentina back on track by equalizing against the Blues in the round of 16. It then took the jewel of Benjamin Pavard to revive France. In the final of the 2022 World Cup, in addition to tormenting Jules Koundé on the right flank of the French defense, Angel Di Maria obtained the penalty to open the score, before scoring the break goal.

Memories that OM will try to chase away on Thursday at the Estadio de la Luz. But be careful: because if Benfica, quarter-finalist of the Champions League last season, is no longer as dashing this season (second in Liga Portugal), Angel Di Maria often saves the furniture, with 15 goals and 13 assists in the counter. Statistics that the former Parisian hopes to inflate against his favorite prey.