Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Freshly crowned kings of Europe, Paris Saint-Germain arrived this week in the United States for the Club World Cup and are treating FIFA’s lucrative new competition not as a nuisance at the end of an exhausting season but as a serious objective.
“I think it is an incredible competition,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said of the Club World Cup in the immediate aftermath of his team’s UEFA Champions League triumph in Munich two weeks ago. “Our aim is to be competitive and try to win a fifth trophy of the season.”
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The Qatar-backed French giants could be forgiven for wanting some time to bask in the glory of their 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in Munich, which allowed them to finally win the Champions League for the first time in their history. There had been numerous agonising failures in Europe’s elite club competition, as well as billions of euros spent on transfer fees on stars like Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, prior to captain Marquinhos raising the trophy aloft.
“We have made history for the club, for the city and for the whole country,” defender Lucas Hernandez told sports daily L’Equipe after the PSG squad paraded their trophy down the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, attended a reception with President Emmanuel Macron and celebrated with almost 50,000 fans at their Parc des Princes stadium. PSG have played 58 matches since last August and also swept all the available domestic trophies in France this season, as has become the norm in recent years.
– No time to stop –
But there is simply no time to stop and reflect. Many of their players, including Champions League final hero Desire Doue, spent last week on international duty before returning to their club and departing for Los Angeles, where they will begin their Club World Cup adventure this weekend. “The tournament itself is a really attractive prospect,” Luis Enrique told FIFA.com. “We have to strike the balance between managing the physical and mental fatigue we’re experiencing now at the end of a long season and harnessing the motivation that comes with being involved in the competition.”
PSG’s opening game will be against another European heavyweight as they take on Antoine Griezmann’s Atletico Madrid at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, just outside Los Angeles, on Sunday. They will then also face South American champions Botafogo, of Brazil, before moving north to take on Seattle Sounders in their remaining Group B matches. Expected to qualify for the knockout phase without too many issues, PSG could end up playing a total of seven matches if they make it all the way to the final in New York on July 13 — just a month before their scheduled first game of next season in the UEFA Supercup against Tottenham Hotspur.
The strain of such a long campaign is telling, with Ousmane Dembele — their top scorer this season with 33 goals — struggling with an injury picked up playing for France last week. They did not manage to add any new players to their squad during the brief transfer window that opened at the start of this month ahead of the tournament — reported interest in Bournemouth’s Ukrainian defender Illia Zabarnyi did not turn into anything concrete.
But the rewards for success in the Club World Cup are enticing and should be enough to keep Luis Enrique’s squad focused on their objective, with up to a stunning $125 million in prize money on offer for the best performing European team if they manage to go all the way.
© 2024 AFP
