PSG vs Real Madrid: Di Maria scores brace to inspire French side to Champions League win

- Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Madrid finished 3-0 in favour of the French giants

- Both sides were eliminated in the Round of 16 of Champions League last season

Angel Di Maria's sensational brace in the first half is all Paris Saint-Germain needed to kick off their Champions League campaign on bright start as the French side stunned Real Madrid 3-0 at Le Parc des Princes.

The Wednesday, September 18, night match saw both sides miss the services of key players, with Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe all missing the Group A opener.

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Real Madrid also lined up without a host of players, including skipper Sergio Ramos, Isco and Marcelo.

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Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale, however, made a return to the fold, with the pair partnering with Karim Benzema upfront in hunt for goals.

But the star-studded side could not find the back of the net, with Di Maria returning to haunt his former club with two goals.

Hazard came closest to scoring the opener, but fired wide despite having acres of space he had earlier created.

Di Maria went on to break the dead-lock in the 14th minute, poking the ball with great power into the bottom left past a helpless Thibaut Courtois.

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The Argentinian doubled the advantage at the half-hour mark, creaming an unstoppable drive towards the bottom-right corner to make it 2-0.

Gareth Bale thought he had pulled one back for Madrid four minutes later, only for VAR to disallow it.

The second half of the match saw the visitors take full control of proceedings but could not create any goalscoring chance.

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At the stroke of stoppage time Thomas Meunier got his name on the scoresheet, scoring PSG's third goal to put the game beyond Madrid.

PSG now sit top of Group A with three points, two above Galatasary who settled for a draw against Club Brugge in another group fixture.

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