Club World Cup: PSG advance to the final by crushing Madrid, who finish a lackluster season

Paris Saint-Germain, the reigning European champions, showed no mercy against the most winning and prestigious club in the world, Real Madrid, who lost 4-0 and completed a disastrous season, where they were widely outclassed in domestic tournaments by their archrivals, Barcelona, and in internationals, by Arsenal and PSG themselves.

The Parisians, on the other hand, were just one game away from becoming the first club in history to win the treble and, moreover, this novel format of the Club World Cup, a competition that has completely exceeded the expectations of the soccer world and that will end on Sunday with the final between Chelsea and PSG.

It was Luis Enrique, DT of PSG, who had warned in advance that his team and he were hyper-motivated to face Madrid.

"I'm a Culé (...) it's always motivating to play against Real Madrid," said the Spanish coach, recalling his Blaugrana past.

His team honored these words on the field. It was not even ten minutes into the game when PSG were already 2-0 up, taking advantage of two errors by an overmatched Raúl Asencio and an erratic and unsettled Antonio Rüdiger. Both central defenders clearly contributed to the first Parisian goals, scored by Spaniard Fabián Ruiz and the great favorite to win the Ballon d'Or, Ousmane Dembélé, who returned to the starting lineup after finally overcoming his left thigh quadriceps injury, which had left him out of action for the start of the Club World Cup.

From then on, PSG's superiority was astounding. Luis Enrique's team overcame the weakened Merengues pressure with the mobility of the trio João Neves, Vitinha, and Ruiz, who easily found their fullbacks, Nuno Mendes and Hakimi, who were unopposed on their respective flanks and served as constant daggers in the defense-attack transactions. 

In attack, Georgian Kvaratskhelia, young star Doue, and Dembélé himself also made a bloodletting in every counterattack or drive against the Merengues defenders, who were exposed in most one-on-one plays.

In the 24th minute, all of PSG's virtues and Madrid's shortcomings were exposed in a real goal, one of the best of the tournament. Luis Enrique's men played the ball at the start, inviting Los Blancos to press high in an uncoordinated manner. After a succession of passes between Donnarumma, the Parisian center-backs, and Vitinha, Hakimi found the space to launch a double wall in speed with Doue first and Dembélé later, piercing like a dagger through the heart of the Madrid defense. It was Fabián Ruiz, once again, who was in charge of finishing the masterpiece, defining with ease at the far post of Courtois.

It was the Belgian goalkeeper who was the only one capable of stopping PSG from scoring five goals in the first half.

Madrid, lackluster, saw how their three stars—Bellingham, Vinícius, and Mbappé—were far away from the game and from being influential in offense, looking like a disjointed and fragile team.

In the second half, PSG showed some mercy, taking their foot off the accelerator and bringing on several substitutes, thinking about the final.

Even so, at the end of the match, substitute Gonçalo Ramos closed the game, scoring a 4-0 that ended a disastrous season for Madrid and for Kylian Mbappé, who left PSG for the Casa Blanca with the illusion of winning his first Champions League and, instead, saw how his ex-team finally managed to reach his first Orejona and, moreover, was able to eliminate him in the semis of the last tournament of the season.

In addition to the win, the match also had some important details, such as the return to the pitch of the seriously injured Carvajal and Militão, who missed all of last season due to tough knee injuries, and the official retirement from the institution of Luka Modric, who played his last game in the Real Madrid jersey before leaving for Italy, where AC Milan awaits him.