The news of the robbery broke during PSG’s game with Nantes, with team mate Marquinhos’s parents also being targeted
In upsetting scenes, on Sunday night, a visibly shaken Angel Di Maria was quickly subbed off after the news was communicated down to his manager Mauricio Pochettino on the bench that his family home had been robbed.
It is reported that both Di Maria and team mate Marquinhos’s families had been the victim of ‘very violent’ robberies in the French capital, though it was later confirmed that Di Maria’s family were in a different part of their home and didn’t hear the robbery.
The police are investigating the incidents, and it appears that neither of the players’ families were harmed.
However it was only in the middle of the PSG league match, in which both Di Maria and Marquinhos were playing, that the news reached the club’s executive Leonardo. He was pictured taking a phone call during the game, before getting the news down to the PSG bench.
After subbing the Argentinian midfielder, Pochettino led him down the tunnel explaining to him what had happened. However Marquinhos played the full 90 minutes as the club were not aware of the situation regarding his family.
This is not the first time that Di Maria has been the victim of a robbery, with his house targeted during his time at Manchester United in 2015. The football world has come out in support of both players, and many have taken to social media to voice their support.
https://twitter.com/EdHaytam/status/1371237764793036801
https://twitter.com/UnitedReveal/status/1371239157662674948
PSG went on to lose the game 2-1 and whilst Pochettino made no excuses for the defeat, he admitted that the news had had an impact on the team. The PSG boss said:
“There are situations outside of football that also explain the second half.
“It is not an excuse but it brought about a reduction in energy. At full-time, we spoke about things other than football.”
There seems to be a real issue with players in Paris being targeted by incidents such as this though. In the last 18 months alone, PSG players Sergio Rico, Thiago Silva and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting have all been the victims of serious robberies.
