Tuchel heaps praise on di Maria

Thomas Tuchel said that coaching Angel Di Maria is "a gift" following Paris Saint-Germain's 3-0 victory over Nice in Ligue 1.

Neymar's brace and a goal from Christopher Nkunku were enough to secure an eighth successive Ligue 1 win for PSG, who are now nine points clear at the top.

Neymar and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting also had goals disallowed for offside, but it was Di Maria - who also hit the woodwork - who drew praise from Tuchel.

"I like Di Maria a lot, he is so gifted," Tuchel said of the Argentine, who was impressive as part of a three-man forward line alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

"I watched him play with Real Madrid and for me I could not believe I could train him at some point back then.

"Now he is my player, it's a gift for me. It's easy with him as he is every day one of the first to come to training. He has a lot of skills, he always plays for the team, it's really a gift."

Tuchel rested Edinson Cavani and Marco Verratti for the trip to Allianz Riviera, with half an eye on PSG's Champions League encounter with Red Star Belgrade in midweek.

And the former Borussia Dortmund boss claimed it was important to keep his players fresh while ensuring his ideas got across.

''First of all, I appreciate the fact that my players trust me and my ideas," he added.

"It was important, our third game in one week, Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday. So the structure was important, to play 3-5-2 today.

"Nice are brave when they have the ball. I did not want my team to run without the ball. That's why we change to play in 3-5-2.

"[The] players were open to this idea. We trained once yesterday like that and it was top. They played bravely."