PSG vs Real Madrid key talking points: Eden Hazard missing while Keylor Navas gets one over Thibaut Courtois

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Ben Hayward18 September 2019

Real Madrid were well beaten by Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night.

The 3-0 scoreline, courtesy of two Angel Di Maria strikes and another from Thomas Meunier, was probably a fair reflection of the play overall.

The Argentine midfielder scored twice in the opening half to give PSG a commanding lead at the break and Meunier netted late on to round off a memorable night for the Parisians and their ecstatic fans.

Here, a look at some of the key talking points from a one-sided contest at the Parc des Princes…

Courtois errs as Navas debuts with a clean sheet

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Thibaut Courtois has not had a happy time at Real Madrid and he might have been forgiven for thinking things would improve when the popular Keylor Navas left the club.

But as destiny would have it, the Costa Rican made his Paris Saint-Germain debut in this very fixture and more than a few fans of Los Blancos will be wondering if their club sold the wrong man.

Navas kept a clean sheet for PSG and although he could do little to stop a Gareth Bale lob which was ruled out for a handball or a Karim Benzema effort chalked off for a Lucas Vazquez offside, he was largely untroubled.

AFP/Getty Images

The same could not be said for Courtois, though. The Belgian was beaten at his near post by Di Maria for the first, was slow to get down to the second and suffered another miserable evening. So far, the transfer from Chelsea has simply not worked out.

Hazard endures disastrous debut

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Real Madrid's other Belgian, summer signing Eden Hazard, endured a disastrous night on his full debut for Los Blancos.

The 28-year-old had come off the bench at the weekend and showed some glimpses of his brilliance in the 3-2 win over Levante at the Santiago Bernabeu, but there were none here.

Hazard went missing for long periods and was mocked on Twitter when fans found an old tweet of his saying he was taking a siesta.

AFP/Getty Images

When he did try to run at a PSG defender in the area in the second half, he turned back on himself, only to find Idrissa Gueye there to take the ball from his feet. The action pretty much summed up his night.

Problems at the back and a slow midfield

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Real Madrid had players missing in midfield and at the back as Luka Modric, Isco, Marcelo and Sergio Ramos all missed out. But it is unclear whether any of those would have made a difference in this match.

Eder Militao was at fault for the first goal and looks low on confidence, with only Ferland Mendy really earning any credit in defence. Perhaps Ramos would have helped avoid such a heavy defeat, but he too has been off form in 2019-20.

AFP/Getty Images

And the midfield was slow and static compared to a quicker and slicker PSG side. Thomas Tuchel is an excellent coach and his influence on this team can be seen by their ability to move the ball in quick transitions from defence to midfield and midfield to attack. Madrid's players, by comparison, did not seem to know what they were doing or even where they should be positioned.

Zidane needs to work on a better plan.

Di Maria steps up without Neymar, Mbappe & Cavani

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With Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani all out for this fixture, it was was seen by most as an ideal time to play PSG.

But it proved to be anything but as Di Maria stepped up in the absence of the three illustrious South American attackers and scored two excellent goals in the first half to set the Parisians on their way to a famous victory.

AFP/Getty Images

Neymar is suspended, while Mbappe and Cavani are currently injured. All three should be back soon and before the possible departures of one, two or all three men next summer, this might be the season in which PSG can finally have a proper crack at European glory.

The French champions have under-achieved in the Champions League in recent seasons, but this is the type of result which will build confidence and belief that they can go much further than the last 16 or the quarter-finals, especially as their three star men were missing. Perhaps this is the year.

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