East Rutherford (United States) (AFP) – Fabian Ruiz scored twice as European champions Paris Saint-Germain turned on the style in their reunion with Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday, thrashing Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup to set up a final showdown with Chelsea. Ruiz and Ousmane Dembele scored inside nine minutes to stun Real and silence the majority of the 77,542 crowd who were wearing white at the MetLife Stadium outside New York. The Spanish midfielder added another before half-time and Goncalo Ramos got a late fourth as Luis Enrique’s side moved one game away from glory at FIFA’s new tournament.
Victory against Chelsea on Sunday would complete a campaign of unparalleled success for the Parisians, who won the French title and then the first UEFA Champions League in their history in May. “We are in a special season, a special moment, and we deserved to win,” Luis Enrique told broadcaster DAZN before looking ahead to the final. “We are going to try, one more step against a good team like Chelsea. They did great, they performed the whole competition and now it is time for us to prepare for that…we want to make history in our club, and then take some holidays.”
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After blowing away Inter Milan 5-0, the biggest victory in European Cup final history, PSG began their Club World Cup bid by putting four past Atletico Madrid, and the ease with which they disposed of Real was striking. PSG’s fluidity contrasted starkly with Madrid, who are a work in progress under new coach Xabi Alonso. “We were not good enough today,” said Alonso. “We are not the first ones to lose to them but we have a lot of different things to improve.”
Mbappe struggled to make any impact on his first start at the tournament and in his first game against PSG since leaving the French club last year. The defeat is a real blow to Real as they hoped to win the first 32-team Club World Cup to add to their record tally of 15 European Cups. PSG were without imposing centre-back Willian Pacho due to suspension following his sending-off against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, but that did not matter. Lucas Beraldo slotted into the defence with ease, and the rest of PSG’s first-choice line-up was there.
– Day to forget for Mbappe –
Real were missing central defender Dean Huijsen through suspension, while the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold was an added blow. The return to the starting XI of Mbappe, who missed the entire group stage through illness, did not prevent young striker Gonzalo Garcia from keeping his place. But the Spanish giants’ front line, completed by Vinicius Junior, made no real impact, such was the extent of PSG’s domination. Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made two superb saves inside the opening five minutes, the first to tip away a Ruiz shot, and the second to deny Nuno Mendes from point-blank range.
Yet Courtois could not prevent Paris from scoring in the sixth minute, as Dembele pounced on slack defending by Raul Asencio. The Real ‘keeper saved at the forward’s feet but Ruiz converted the loose ball. Three minutes later and the contest was effectively over when Antonio Rudiger failed to control a simple pass from Jude Bellingham, allowing Dembele to run through before finishing low into the corner. Like his friend Mbappe, Dembele was starting for the first time at the competition having been injured. That was a 35th club goal since August for a player who is a serious candidate for the Ballon d’Or.
It was turning into a humiliating afternoon for Real as PSG got their third midway through the first half. A deflected shot by Mbappe was easily held by Gianluigi Donnarumma, and no Madrid player touched the ball again before they were picking it out of their net a minute later. Dembele released Achraf Hakimi on the right and he squared for Ruiz, the Spain star taking a touch to hold off Fede Valverde before finishing. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia could have got a fourth before the interval, while Desire Doue had a goal disallowed early in the second half.
But Real were not coming back, and Alonso opted to take off Bellingham and Vinicius just after the hour mark in a clear sign of surrender. PSG then got their fourth after 87 minutes when Ramos controlled a pass from fellow substitute Bradley Barcola, turned and fired in.
© 2024 AFP
