Atlanta (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain steamrollered Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami 4-0 to reach the Club World Cup quarter-finals on Sunday as the European champions proved too strong for a team of ageing stars. Miami hoped the Argentine superstar’s magic could help them produce an unlikely result against his former club, but the Major League Soccer side were dismantled in Atlanta by Luis Enrique’s rampant team.
Messi and his former Barcelona team-mates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba had done well to reach the last 16, but the gulf in quality between the teams was laid bare over the 90 minutes. Joao Neves netted twice for PSG, who benefitted from a Tomas Aviles own goal, while Achraf Hakimi was also on target. After Neves opened the scoring early on, Miami resisted until PSG hit three goals in 10 minutes towards the end of the first half.
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“We had to play a serious game, the competition is really starting and I think we played well,” PSG winger Ousmane Dembele told reporters on his return from injury. Messi was the main draw, as fans chanted his name and most of the 66,000 crowd were clad in Miami’s hot pink interspersed with Argentina shirts.
PSG dominated from the start, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia floating into the box and teeing up Bradley Barcola, but Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari thwarted him with an outstretched leg. However, shortly afterwards, over-run Miami right-back Marcelo Weigandt fouled Desire Doue, which led to PSG’s opener. Vitinha whipped a free-kick to the back post where Portuguese midfielder Neves ran in completely unmarked, stooping to nod past Ustari after six minutes.
With the Ligue 1 champions pressing high and keeping possession, Javier Mascherano’s Miami found it hard to get Messi involved. The 38-year-old’s intermittent interventions were not enough to hold back the Parisian tide. PSG doubled their lead in the 39th minute when veteran holding midfielder Busquets got his footwork wrong in front of his own box. Spanish compatriot Ruiz rapidly relieved him of the ball and combined with Barcola to set up Neves to tap home his second.
PSG grabbed their third when Aviles deflected Doue’s cross into his own net, and Hakimi netted the fourth before half-time to put PSG out of sight. The Morocco international’s first effort was deflected onto the crossbar, but he stayed alert at the air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz Stadium to fire home the rebound.
Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi lost his cool with a swipe aimed at Vitinha as the Argentine raged against the midfielder, Miami’s impotence, and PSG’s swagger.
Determined Messi produced a brilliant pass for Suarez early in the second half, chipping a ball over the PSG defence, but the Uruguayan could not finish to offer Miami a lifeline. Despite the impossibility of a comeback — there was to be no ‘remontada’ like the one Luis Enrique’s Barcelona managed in 2017 against PSG from four goals down in which Messi and Suarez scored — the Argentine was determined to bow out with a bang.
Messi drew a first save from PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma after the hour mark with a low effort. Luis Enrique sent on Dembele for his first appearance at the tournament after a hamstring injury, but the Frenchman was rusty and imprecise. When Suarez was fouled by Lucas Beraldo on the edge of the box, Messi had the chance to repeat his free-kick winner against Porto in the group stage, but his effort hit the wall.
It was not to be for Messi or Miami, but their second-half performance was respectable, and the defeat was by a lesser margin than the French side’s 5-0 Champions League final thrashing of Inter Milan. “I think we were above the expectations people had for us (at the tournament), we were the best team in our group, obviously we were facing the best team in the world playing football right now, so it was difficult,” said Alba.
“Despite that, in the first half we competed and above all we did in the second, we had more control of the game, more chances, and created more problems for PSG.” PSG will face Bayern Munich or Flamengo in the quarter-finals in Atlanta on Saturday.
© 2024 AFP
