Manchester United flop Angel Di Maria shows just why he is exactly what PSG need to challenge in the #UCL
Edinson Cavani may have departed Stade Louis II with a couple of goals – his first in Ligue 1 this season – but the contribution of the 27-year-old was the cause of just as much excitement.
When the Uruguayan arrived in France for a fee of around €65 million from Napoli in 2012, his signing was greeted with terrific fanfare - it was, and remains, the biggest Ligue 1 has seen. Though his scoring rate has remained formidable, throughout his time in the French capital, he has never threatened to assume the club's offensive mantle from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Indeed, it is ironic that, as Cavani was pushed into a supposedly unfavoured wide role as the Swede returned, he was finally able to find the target this term. And Ibra played a big hand in both the Uruguayan's strikes, setting up Blaise Matuidi to cross for the first and feeding his strike colleague directly for the second.
Although Cavani actually outscored Ibrahimovic last term, there remain concerns that he misses too many simple chances.
If PSG are to conquer Europe, do they need him? Probably not. Unlike figures such as Ibrahimovic, Blaise Matuidi and Thiago Silva, he is an expendable commodity.
His failure to find the net from a straightforward position most notably cost PSG in the Champions League quarter-final of 2014 against Chelsea, and Di Maria has already said that his major goal for the campaign is to help the Parisians overcome a European hurdle they have fallen at in each of the last three seasons.
In Cavani, Laurent Blanc has at his disposal a high-quality striker, but in Di Maria he has a gem of true world-class ability.
Though discarded by Manchester United after a year, Di Maria's pedigree is unquestioned. That he played a pivotal role in Real Madrid's Decima success has not been forgotten and it is that kind of European knowhow that PSG have craved.
They might be a team bristling with offensive quality, but their newest attacking addition is the only one who knows the feeling of lifting the Champions League trophy.
It did not take the Argentine long to shine in Monaco. With his first touch he set up Cavani for a headed opportunity that he really should have been buried, but he continued to probe the home rearguard with deft passes. His assist for Ezequiel Lavezzi to round off the scoring – a clipped ball through the defence from some 40 metres – was a piece of skill of the highest quality.
The irony is, of course, that United believe that Cavani could be the figure to solve problems that Di Maria could not. No doubt he is a player that would improve the playing staff at Old Trafford - or Arsenal, where he has also been linked - yet he is not a player that would elevate either club to the status of Champions League, or even Premier League, winners. Such sides much search for greater reliability.
Di Maria, on the other hand, has already shown his mettle on the greatest stage, and his bow for PSG suggests he feels he still has something to prove. That can only be good news for the Parisians, who might have won their opening four Ligue 1 matches, but whose eyes are fixed primarily on European progress.
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