Paris Saint-Germain left no doubt it was Europe’s top club with a historic victory in the Champions League. Now, PSG is intent on conquering the world.
Les Rouge-et-Bleu turned in a dominating performance at the Club World Cup on Sunday, brushing aside Lionel Messi and Inter Miami with a first-half blitz that resulted in a 4-0 victory.
While the European powerhouses complained mightily about having to play in the newly expanded tournament at the end of a grueling season, PSG is taking the 32-team competition seriously.
Outside of a 1-0 loss to Brazilian club Botafogo in group play, PSG has won three games by a cumulative 10-0 since arriving in the United States.
“It’s clear that this is a historic season for us. We intend to continue making history with this competition,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said through an interpreter. “We’re fighting to claim silverware. This season is very long for all the teams. But we’re excited to be here.”
PSG advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will face Bayern Munich next Saturday in Atlanta. The German club defeated Flamengo of Brazil 4-2.
There was a huge buildup to the game against Messi, who played two seasons at PSG before making the move to South Florida in the twilight of his brilliant career and was facing his former coach at Barcelona.
But even with an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner leading the way, the club from Major League Soccer was simply no match for a deep, talented squad that routed Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final a month ago.
João Neves scored a pair of goals for PSG, setting the tone with a header off a free kick just six minutes into the match.
He scored again in the 39th, and Inter Miami totally fell apart in the closing minutes of the opening half. Tomás Avilés gave up an own-goal on a cross in front of the net, and Achraf Hakimi added to his brilliant campaign with another tally in stoppage time.
With a four-goal cushion at the break, PSG could start looking ahead to its next match.
“We will play our game no matter who is against us,” Neves said. “We are confident.”
Messi barely touched the ball in the first half as the Herons struggled mightily just to get across the just to get across the halfway line.
The pink-clad fans in the crowd of 65,574 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium tried to stir the underdogs with occasional chants of “Messi! Messi! Messi!” but it did little good.
PSG was simply too good.
“With their youthful players and high caliber and an amazing coach, they didn’t let us relax for one second,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said through an interpreter. “I feel like this is a team that will be remembered.”
In another encouraging sign for PSG, French star Ousmane Dembélé got his first action of the tournament after sustaining a left quadriceps injury while on duty with the national team. He came on a substitute for Neves in the 62nd minute.
“It is very important for us to have injured players come back into the fold,” Enrique said. “We have to focus on our goals and get our players back.”
Especially when there’s another trophy within reach.
Harry Kane scores twice as Bayern Munich beats Flamengo 4-2
Miami Gardens (USA), Jun 30 (AP): Harry Kane scored twice and Bayern Munich capitalized on a quick start to beat Flamengo 4-2 in the Club World Cup round of 16 on Sunday.
Germany’s premier soccer club regrouped quickly from its only loss of the tournament last week against Benfica, jumping out to a 2-0 lead and then holding off Flamengo’s comeback attempts to advance to the quarterfinals.
Bayern Munich will face Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday in Atlanta after PSG routed Lionel Messi and Inter Miami 4-0 earlier Sunday.
Kane’s first goal was a deflected strike nine minutes into the match that put Bayern up by a pair of goals, and the prolific goal scorer found the back of the net again on a feed from Joshua Kimmich that he whipped past goalie Agustín Rossi.
The Bundesliga champion struck early when Flamengo star Erick Pulgar headed the ball into his own net off Kimmich’s corner in the sixth.
Even though Flamengo had plenty of opportunities, the Brazilian club failed to capitalize on enough of them and never got closer than a goal.
Luiz Araújo had Flamengo’s best chance of the first half with a left-footed shot toward the back post, but Manuel Neuer slid over and knocked the ball away for a brilliant save.
Gerson finally put Flamengo on the board when he beat Neuer in the 32nd to cut the 2-0 deficit in half before Leon Goretzka restored Bayern’s two-goal lead.
Flamengo pulled within a goal again in the second half when Jorginho converted a penalty. Then came Kane again, finishing in the 73rd with his third goal of the tournament.
The 65,000-seat Hard Rock Stadium — home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins — has been one of the more well-attended venues of the tournament and was almost completely full Sunday, with many attendees wearing Flamengo’s iconic black and red kit.
Key moment
Jorginho sent Neuer the wrong way on a penalty in the 54th to cut the deficit to 3-2 and give Flamengo life before Kane put them away with his second goal.
Takeaways
Bayern’s win ensured that at least four European clubs will advance to the quarterfinals. It also set up a rematch of the 2020 Champions League final that Bayern won 1-0.
What they said
“I know a lot of my game is judged on goals and I’ve been doing it throughout my career, but what maybe some of the German fans and some of the Bayern fans are realizing is that I’ll do anything for the team to help us win.” — Kane.
“We had our opportunities, but unfortunately they were the superior team in this fixture. … The corner kick at the beginning of the match sort of took down our confidence a little bit.” — Flamengo coach Filipe Luis through an interpreter.