The Paris Saint-Germain exposed all the shortcomings of Real Madrid, which were common during the 2024/25 season with Carlo Ancelotti, with a resounding victory over the team now managed by Xabi Alonso. The man from Tolosa suffered a very painful first defeat (4-0) in the Club World Cup semi-final.
The 'merengues' were clearly outplayed from start to finish, punished by the failure of Xabi's tactical plan. The coach opted for the return of Kylian Mbappé to the starting XI, with an attacking trident formed by Vinicius and Gonzalo García. However, the change of scheme exposed the midfield.
Without Dean Huijsen (suspended) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (injured), Alonso had no choice but to put Raúl Asencio as a central defender and Fede Valverde as a right-back. Luis Enrique's team took control of the midfield and punished the Madrid defense's mistakes at the start of the match.
Paris settled the match in just 24 minutes!
PSG opened the scoring in the 6th minute with a goal from Fabián Ruiz. The midfielder captured a ball lost by Asencio inside the area, after a poor control by the central defender under pressure from Ousmane Dembélé. Again, the Spanish defender made a childish mistake and, in the 9th minute, the blunder came at the feet of Antonio Rüdiger.
The German also lost an absurd ball to Dembélé and the 'Mosquito' went alone to finish against Courtois. With Madrid in shock, the Gauls controlled the match at will. In the 24th minute, after a great collective play, Hakimi assisted Fabián and he shot Courtois in the face of Fede Valverde's desperate marking.
If it weren't for a couple of interventions by the Belgian, Paris would have gone into halftime with a 'little hand' of advantage. The Madrid midfield did not exist, with Jude Bellingham and Arda Güler disconnected and lost against the rapid ball circulation of Luis Enrique's team.
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Gonçalo Ramos closed the scoring for PSG against Real Madrid
With the match practically settled, both teams came out without changes for the second half. In Madrid, at least one tweak was expected to try to rebuild the midfield, but Xabi Alonso made no changes.
Luis Enrique, for his part, waited until the 60th minute to bring on Gonçalo Ramos and Bradley Barcola for Dembélé and Kvaratskhelia, the latter with a weak performance in the semi-final. The Whites only tweaked their XI in the 65th minute with the entry of Brahim, Militao and Modric, who finally said goodbye to the 'Casa Blanca'.
Asencio, Vinicius and Bellingham were replaced, all three with a regrettable performance on the hot afternoon in New Jersey. Later, Dani Carvajal would enter, who reappeared after his serious injury in October 2024.
PSG gave up the ball in the final stretch to the 'merengues', but everything was decided, even more so when Gonçalo Ramos made it four in the 87th minute. The current European champions will face Chelsea in the Club World Cup final, next Sunday at the same MetLife Stadium. Luis Enrique's team is going for an unprecedented 'poker' after winning Ligue 1, the French Cup and the Champions League in 24/25.
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