Paris St Germain picked up right where they left off in their first match since winning the Champions League last month, turning what was billed as a blockbuster into a 4-0 rout of Atletico Madrid in their Club World Cup opener.
The sunsoaked midday match, timed to accommodate fans watching in Europe, drew 80,619 people to the sunsoaked Rose Bowl in Pasadena on a day when the toasty conditions led to water breaks in both halves.
“It’s the best scheduled time for the European countries, but it’s difficult to play in these conditions,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said after the Group B clash.
Enrique was encouraged to see the massive turnout, which set an attendance record for PSG and Atletico Madrid this season, according to Fifa.
“It’s really great to feel that love in another part of the world,” Enrique said. “We are happy and we want to continue in that way.”
No team has been able to push PSG off course lately. They have outscored their opponents 12-0 over their past three matches including their 5-0 romp over Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
Beating fellow European powerhouse Atletico Madrid in such convincing fashion on Sunday solidifies PSG’s status as one of the favourites to triumph in the 32-team Club World Cup.
Despite being without injured Ballon d’Or favourite Ousmane Dembele, the young team earned the win behind a balanced attack and saw goals from four different players – Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, Senny Mayulu and Lee Kang-in.
“Every single player has been developing and showing to the team their best quality,” Enrique said. “As a coach I’m very happy.”
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Vitinha, who took player of the match honours, said it is always a group effort.
“As always I am going to talk about the team,” he said. “It was a very good game and it’s difficult with this temperature, but we did well against a very good team. Everybody knows Atletico is a tough team, an aggressive team, but we did very well.
“We managed to control all of the game. We could have scored more, but we are happy with the result.”
PSG will be back at the Rose Bowl on Thursday evening to face Botafogo.
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