Champions League: We want to make history, says PSG’s Angel di Maria

Football — Paris Saint-Germain's Argentine midfielder Angel Di Maria (left) celebrates with Brazilian forward Neymar after scoring his team's second goal during the Uefa Champions League semi-final against Leipzig at the Luz stadium in Lisbon on Tuesday. Image Credit: AFP

Dubai: Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Angel di Maria has said that the French team is looking to make history after reaching the Uefa Champions League final for the first time.

“I am very happy, the team did a great job, a great game, we want to stay in the club’s history. I arrived in Paris to be able to make history. I can now be in the final. It is very important for us and hopefully. We can continue this way,” said the Argentine after PSG’s 3-0 semi-final win over RB Leipzig on Tuesday. They will take on winners of Lyon versus Bayern Munich clash, to be played later on Wednesday, in the final.

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“We knew that, with all our energy, the desire to reach the final, we could do it and that’s what we did,” added di Maria, who scored one goal and laid on the other two for Marquinhos and Bernat.

Another one who wants to make history in the French team is Brazilian defender Thiago Silva, who is set to leave the club after eight seasons.

“It is a feeling of great joy, because since my arrival at the club in 2012, we were trying to reach the final and there were always some setbacks,” he said.

“We had a weight on us, especially due to eliminations in the last three seasons in the round of 16. Some defeats fell on me as the captain, but I’m here to show my face, I always have been,” he added.

“I didn’t know if the game against Atalanta was my last one at the club, or if it would be this one, but now I am sure that the next one will be the last. But I hope it will be victorious and that we can have a blessed day,” he concluded.

Thiago Silva will lead PSG in next Sunday’s final.

An inspired Neymar helped his team reach the final, but the fact that the Brazilian was not their best player against RB Leipzig says everything about the frightening strength of Thomas Tuchel’s team and shows why they can be confident of lifting the trophy for the first time.

Neymar has become a different player in his third year in the French capital. His first two seasons at PSG following his 222 million-euro ($264m) transfer from Barcelona were blighted by injuries and constant speculation about a move back to the Camp Nou.

When it became clear last summer that a return to Catalonia would not happen, he knuckled down and decided finally to make a proper go of it in Paris. This is the end result.

After scoring in both legs against Borussia Dortmund in the last 16, just before the coronavirus brought football to a halt, he was outstanding in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Atalanta last week in Lisbon and even better in the 3-0 demolition of Leipzig.

“He scores in training, but he is playing exceptionally well, he is so, so strong. He has a winning mentality, a hunger to win and to show he is capable of being the best player in the world.

“If he scores in the final then I’ll be happy,” said coach Tuchel.