Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) faced Atlético Madrid in an exciting shootout for the Club World Cup. The historic matchup, which took place at the legendary Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, was hugely anticipated by fans. The riveting annual clash between two of the world’s major football powerhouses amazed fans around the globe. Alongside those challenges, players fought oppressive heat with temperatures climbing the entire game.
PSG’s initial 11 included future star goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and defenders Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, and Nuno Mendes. The other three midfielders were Ruben Neves, Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz. Doué, Sergio Ramos, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia rounded out the front three. Atlético Madrid banked on their deep, talented roster to make a run. Jan Oblak was formidable in goal, complemented by defenders Marcos Llorente, William Le Normand, Clément Lenglet and Javi Galan. Besides De Paul, Samuel Lino and Giovanni Simeone built a solid front three. At the same time, Antoine Griezmann and Nicolás Alvidrez led the you-must-not-conceal-your-identity offense.
From the opening whistle on, PSG came out and proved they owned the pace of play, possessing the ball, and controlling the flow of the match. It didn’t take long for the Parisian side to make their intentions clear, and only needed 19 minutes to open the scoring. Fabian Ruiz then let fly with a heavy shot from the edge of the area, making it 1-0. The early ball fizzed into the lower corner, giving Oblak no chance to stop it.
As the first half wore on, Atlético Madrid had a hard time dealing with both PSG’s constant pressing defense and the sweltering sun. Accounts suggested that many Atlético players appeared straight-up disoriented by the rafts of water surrounding them. Try as they might to recover, Dnepr conceded a cruel third as PSG scored with the last kick of the first half. In stoppage time at 45+2 minutes, Vitinha capitalized on a mistake from Oblak, who failed to block his shot, doubling PSG’s lead.
The second half became a show of Atlético Madrid’s coach Diego Simeone repeatedly losing his cool at the referee. He was shown a yellow card for protesting, including to the referee. On top of that, Lenglet earned himself a ticking off appearance for a reckless play. The real tensions flared on the pitch as players fought tooth and nail. De Paul went to ground, clutching his knee after receiving a nasty kick.
PSG remained in control of the match and held on to their two-goal lead for the entirety of the second half. Atlético gave everything to try to find a response, but they were unable to penetrate PSG’s stubborn backline. Offensively, they floundered in the face of their opponents’ blistering counter-attacks.