Angel Di Maria: 'My best season since I arrived at the club'
Before heading off to the Copa America with Argentina, the Paris Saint-Germain forward spoke to us about the season past.
Angel, what's your feeling after winning your third title with Paris Saint-Germain?
"I'm very happy! Winning the league is one of the club's major objectives as Paris Saint-Germain wants to keep growing. To do that, you have to keep winning trophies, and the league is one of the most important trophies. Winning it makes a lot of people happy, especially the fans."
In a few years, this 2018/19 season will undoubtedly be seen as one of the best in the club's history, despite the difficult end.
"There were times when the team wasn't as good, and other moments when it was at the peak of its powers. It's normal. It was a magnificent league season. i think we did some great things. Achieving all that we did is very difficult. We were unbeaten at home all season and won a lot of away games. The season is very long, and we did something significant."
You played a major role in the team. What's your relationship like with Thomas Tuchel?
"You're always happy when you play, that's obvious. I was honest with him from day one. He came to talk to me before the World Cup. I told him here wasn't my place, because there was Kylian, Neymar and Edi, and that that made things difficult. He told me that he was counting on me, that I was a player he liked and that he wanted me to stay here. That's why I changed my mind and why I came back with the desire to succeed, to show that I could play in this team. I think that I have shown that all year long. I paid back the faith he showed in me from the start.
You scored 12 league goals, a career-best for you. How do you judge your season?
"It's a fantastic season with 11 assists too, it's definitely my best since I arrived at the club. I need that confidence. I needed to show why I'd played for such big teams, why I still play at a big club like Paris Saint-Germain. That's also why I extended my contract by two years here. I want to win a lot of trophies, to continue loving playing football, and I can do that here."
Your performance in the 3-1 win over Marseille was perhaps your best of the season…
"As I have already said, I think it's one of the most important matches I've played since I arrived here. Because it was against Marseille, because the fans only want to win against that team, because we had just been knocked out of the Champions League by Manchester United. I wanted to show that I really wanted to win that game. That's what enabled me to score that really nice goal. I won the ball back, beat my man, and found myself in a position to shoot. Normally, when there's not much space, the goalkeeper isn't looking for me to shoot. He more looks for me to make a pass, and that's why I quickly decided to shoot. It was a very nice goal."