Di Maria has former club Real Madrid in his sights

Many Real Madrid fans were disappointed when the club sold Angel Di Maria in 2014 and the Paris St Germain midfielder will be keen to remind them what they are missing in Champions League Group A on Wednesday.

Real offloaded the Argentine to Manchester United in part to fund president Florentino Perez’s policy of cherry-picking the standout performers at the World Cup, with Germany’s Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez of Colombia arriving shortly before Di Maria’s move to England.

Following a failed season at United the 27-year-old Di Maria, who is nicknamed “Fideo” (Noodle) due to his wiry frame, moved to the French capital in search of a new lease of life and has made a solid, if unspectacular, start to his Ligue 1 career.

He was a key figure for Real during his four years in Madrid and was named man of the match when they beat city rivals Atletico 4-1 to clinch the “Decima”, a record-extending 10th European Cup crown, in his final season.

Di Maria’s electric run helped set up Gareth Bale to put Real 2-1 ahead. He will also be remembered for the superb cross he sent over for Cristiano Ronaldo to head home and win the 2011 King’s Cup final against Barcelona.

“If I score against Madrid I will not celebrate because at the bottom of my heart I have not forgotten what I experienced there with the Decima,” Di Maria told French TV.

A depleted Real strolled to a 3-0 La Liga win at home to Levante on Saturday.

Coach Rafa Benitez is hoping some of the players who were missing through injury, including captain Sergio Ramos, midfielder Luka Modric and forward Karim Benzema, will be back for the clash at the Parc des Princes.

Forward Bale looks certain to miss the game after tests on Monday showed he has a calf injury.

PSG have been boosted by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s recent performances that suggest he is close to top form after injury disrupted his start to the season.

The Sweden striker has netted six goals in his last four Ligue 1 outings and PSG geared up for Wednesday with a clinical 2-0 win at Bastia on Saturday thanks to an Ibrahimovic double.

Coach Laurent Blanc rested his regular midfielders, with Thiago Motta coming off the bench on the hour and Di Maria, Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi not even in the squad.

PSG and Real have a maximum six points from two matches in Group A.

Manchester United return to the scene of their 2008 Champions League triumph looking for a second away win over CSKA Moscow in exactly six years on Wednesday.

United, who won their third crown when they beat Chelsea on penalties at the Luzhniki Stadium in May 2008, returned to the Russian capital on October 21, 2009 and beat CSKA 1-0 with a late goal by Antonio Valencia.

The Red Devils will be looking to repeat that victory at a different venue, the Arena Khimki, as the Luzhniki is under reconstruction for the 2018 World Cup finals.

United will travel to Moscow in good heart after an excellent 3-0 win away to Everton kept them third in the Premier League at the weekend.

Manager Louis van Gaal was delighted with that return to form following a defeat by the same score away to Arsenal in the previous game.

Morgan Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera and Wayne Rooney scored the goals, with Rooney once again playing just behind new young striker Anthony Martial, who has made a fine impression since joining from AS Monaco in the close-season.

“Maybe it is the start of many, many victories. I am not stupid, I won’t change too much on Wednesday,” said Van Gaal, who left out fellow Dutchmen Danny Blind and Memphis Depay at the weekend following the Netherlands’ failure to qualify for Euro 2016.

While United may have one eye on next Sunday’s local derby against Manchester City, they would do well not to underestimate a CSKA side who have been in excellent form domestically as well.

CSKA are unbeaten in their last 19 matches in the Russian Premier League, equaling a club record set in 2001, and beat Ural 3-2 on Saturday to stay five points clear of second placed Lokomotiv Moscow.

However, head coach Leonid Slutskiy has been critical of his team’s performance.

“Unfortunately we are unable to fully control the whole match,” said the 44-year-old, who in August also started to coach the Russian national team.

CSKA will be without Bibras Natcho who is suffering from a head injury, but fellow midfielder Roman Eremenko is expected to be fit following a groin strain. Experienced central defender Vasili Berezutski is also expected to return.

Russian international goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev will be hoping for an upturn in fortunes. CSKA’s captain is looking to end an unwanted record, having failed to keep a clean sheet in 33 consecutive appearances in the Champions League.

Man City wary

Manchester City will be almost as concerned to avoid further injuries as they are to take three Champions League points when Sevilla visit the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

Four days later Premier League leaders City have a big local derby at third-placed Manchester United.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side are already without top scorer Sergio Aguero who hit six goals in two games, five of them in 20 minutes against Newcastle United, before suffering a hamstring problem playing for Argentina.

Playmaker David Silva was also injured on international duty and will miss Wednesday’s game against his fellow countrymen.

Captain Vincent Kompany was not considered fit enough to play in Saturday’s 5-1 win over lowly Bournemouth while midfielder Samir Nasri sustained a hamstring injury in that game.

“I prefer to play with Aguero and Silva,” Pellegrini told reporters before adding he was “very happy” with the performances of attacking players Raheem Sterling, who scored a hat-trick, Wilfried Bony and record signing Kevin De Bruyne.