This Wednesday evening, Paris Saint-Germain won 4-0 (video highlights PSG/Real Madrid) against Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the 2025 Club World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New York. Here we present you with some of the highlights and lowlights of the victory.
Tops –
Collective masterclass
PSG overcame Real Madrid. Defensively, offensively, in terms of positioning and movement, nothing was left to chance. Real Madrid made mistakes, and the Parisians took full advantage of them.
Real Madrid know how to seize every opportunity, and they’ve conquered the soccer world with their incredible efficiency in recent years. PSG combine clinical efficiency with top-quality play. This season will go down in soccer history as one to remember.
Beraldo/Ruiz/Dembélé
What do the three of them have in common? These are three players who played a great game against Real Madrid. These are three players who were criticized, insulted or worse not even 8 months ago. Beraldo showed that he’s here to stay, ready to grow with Paris. Ruiz once again punished the haters with a match that was absolutely remarkable in terms of its intelligence, movement and positioning (and on top of that, he scored two goals).
Last but not least, Dembélé, the “square-footed, fragile and unreliable” striker, turned into a clinical goalscorer, ready to launch a pressing attack at any moment and with the body language of a champion. The list goes on, for this PSG is so perfectly orchestrated by the master Luis Enrique.
A record PSG
PSG will have played every possible match in the 2024/2025 season. They will have been in at least every final (yes, they still have to get past Chelsea in the final). But they’ll at least be playing the game, so there won’t be any match they’ve missed out on. PSG have scored another clean sheet, PSG have scored another 4 goals, Ruiz and Dembélé have scored again. This PSG is an astonishing PSG, a flamboyant PSG, a record PSG.
Flops –
PSG could have stunned Madrid… but they didn’t
4-0 is a flattering scoreline for Madrid, and it shows what PSG could have done if they’d played their hearts out. Management is understandable, but given the history between the two clubs, an even harsher “slap” would have been in order. But in this case, we’re looking for the small beast, because in truth, there’s not much to complain about on the Parisian side.
Mbappé/Vinicius, great soloists who no longer inspire dreams
Since there’s nothing to complain about on the PSG side, we’ll take the opposite approach and talk about our opponents. No, we won’t be bashing Mbappé here because of his stormy departure from PSG, but we do have to address an important footballing theme. When two players aren’t running around the pitch, when there’s no pressing, when there’s no desire to strip for the other, then soccer is so sad.
Real Madrid’s match is sad, but the lack of commitment from its two superstars, who are thinking a lot about the Ballon d’Or, is really detrimental. Yes, they can do individual masterclasses, but they have a lot of collective deficiencies and that made the match much less interesting.
