Angel is from the 90's. Yeah, I get it about Messi and so forth. BUT, looking at just the MANNER of play. Di Maria is from the 90's. His dribbling skill and movement with the ball and psychology is something very rare today in football. He is a dude that can just run straight past four players and unleash a shot afterwards. That's what this guy can do. A ZERO fear attitude. For Madrid to stand a chance of winning. Di Maria HAS to have a great game.
Barcelona will take control of possession and force Madrid to chase them to get the ball. But Madrid WILL eventually get the ball. Once they do, it is imperative that Di Maria is given it and is allowed space to dance across the Camp Nou turf and strut his stuff. As we all know, Cristiano does not dribble these days, he relies more on service. With Ozil STUPIDLY getting sold, Di Maria is the ONLY true creative force out there. Yes, Isco is a rising star doing well, but he is not yet on the level of Di Maria. Speaking of Ozil...perhaps the happiest person to see him leave albeit in private would have been Di Maria.
Right now, the spotlight is on him. This is the World Cup season and suddenly, he no longer just PART of the Madrid team. He is now a very important player. If Di Maria grabs the creative role with both hands and flourishes in it, then it will be superb news for Sabella and Argentina. To do this though, Di Maria's game will have to alter. He will need to think more, and allow himself more time on the ball. This does not mean he should lose his old-skool dribbling style. But utilize it when needed but also work more on finding the runners, and supplying those neat cutters that he did so against Juventus that lead to the opening goal.
It will be a tough game and Madrid are playing a Barcelona team that have only dropped points TWICE in all competitions. That's REAL talk right there. Cristiano is the goal machine....but every goal machines needs the extra bolt of lightning to get it going. The bolt comes from Argentina and it will need to be sparkling from the first minute all the way to the last.
HH
