Newly crowned European champions Paris St-Germain cruised past Atletico Madrid for a winning start to their first-ever Fifa Club World Cup campaign.
The French side dominated the early stages in searing heat in front of an 80,619-strong crowd at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, enjoying 82.6% possession in the first 15 minutes.
They led when Fabian Ruiz rifled a low strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.
Portuguese striker Goncalo Ramos missed the target with three attempts before Vitinha drifted through the middle of the Atletico defence just before half-time and slotted past Jan Oblak to put his side in firm control.
Oblak kept his side in the game by tipping Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s bending strike on to the crossbar minutes after the restart, before Julian Alvarez had a goal disallowed for a foul by Koke on Desire Doue in the build-up.
Atletico were reduced to 10 men in bizarre circumstances in the 78th minute when Clement Lenglet was shown a second yellow card for dissent after referee Istvan Kovacs failed to act when Oblak was impeded while attempting to roll the ball out.
Diego Simeone’s side should have pulled a goal back eight minutes from time, but substitute Alexander Sorloth missed an open goal from a few yards when a low cross found him at the far post.
Substitute Senny Mayulu followed up his goalscoring cameo in last month’s Champions League final by firing into the bottom corner in the 87th minute.
There was drama in added time as Ibrahim Mbaye hit the post for PSG, before Atleti defender Robin le Normand was punished for handball by the video assistant referee (VAR) and Lee Kang-in slotted home the penalty for his side’s fourth goal.
What was the main talking point?
With the match kicking off at midday local time, players and fans were subjected to blazing sunshine as the temperature reached 31C in Pasadena.
Fifa’s decision to schedule 35 of the 63 games earlier than 17:00 local time has raised eyebrows, not least from world players’ union Fifpro.
It believes Fifa’s guidelines on cooling breaks “do not do enough to protect the health and performance of players”. One cooling break is permitted in each half if the ‘wet bulb globe temperature’ (WBGT) – a measure of heat stress combining heat and humidity – reaches 32C.
Sunday’s match contained two cooling breaks, which many of the players spent with towels covering their heads.
After the match, PSG midfielder and player of the match Vitinha described the playing conditions as “difficult”, while manager Luis Enrique said the heat “had an impact on the game.”
With the 2026 World Cup held in the US, Canada and Mexico a year from now, the issue of playing in potentially dangerous temperatures will continue to cause concern.
Who stood out?
Vitinha continued his career-best campaign with another excellent performance at the heart of the PSG midfield.
The 25-year-old took his goal well too, showing great awareness and ambition to spot the hole in the Atleti defence, drive forward and calmly place the ball past the outstretched Oblak.
While Kvaratskhelia did register two assists, both were simple passes that preceded brilliance from Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz.
The Georgian winger struggled to make more of an impact, with his only real moment of quality denied a goal by Oblak.
Julian Alvarez was his usual lively self for Atletico, but the Argentine striker lacked service to cause more problems. With minimal fuss he took the main chance that fell his way, only to see VAR rule it out because of Koke’s foul.
The standout stats
PSG started the 2024-25 season poorly, but after Christmas things clicked and they won the Treble of Champions League, Ligue 1 and the French Cup.
Their improvement has been so dramatic that 103 of the 154 goals Luis Enrique’s side have scored this season have come since the start of the calendar year.
What’s next for these teams?
PSG face Botafogo in their second Group B game in Pasadena on Friday, 20 June (02:00 BST), a few hours after Atletico take on Seattle Sounders in Seattle on Thursday, 19 June (23:00 BST)
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