On Sunday, Paris Saint-Germain took on Atlético de Madrid at the Rose Bowl Stadium as part of Day 1 of the group phase of the 2025 Club World Cup. The Red and Blue dominated the match, winning 4-0. Here are our grades for the Parisians.
Goalkeeper –
Gianluigi Donnarumma (6) – A match without too much to do. Managed day-to-day business.
Defenders –
Achraf Hakimi (7) – A fine game from him. Gave his all, as always, and hurt the Atletico defence.
Marquinhos (6) – A decent match, without too much work. We saw him refocus partners when they played too “easy”.
Willian Pacho (6.5) – As uncompromising in duels as ever. His footwork was lacklustre but assured.
Nuno Mendes (7) – You always get the impression that everything comes easy to him. His power and speed could be better exploited. For the rest, he dominated proceedings in his area, both offensively and defensively. Replaced in the 80th minute by Lucas Hernandez.
Midfielders –
João Neves (6.5) – A match he knows how to play, close to his opponents, picking up balls. He did his job, but that’s not bad.
Vitinha (7) – Still a metronome on the pitch, he’s scoring and getting goals. His reliability was such that PSG were in constant control.
Fabian Ruiz (7) – His positioning, his appeals, all abilities he shows every minute he’s on the pitch. What’s more, he scored a fine goal to put his team on the right track. Replaced by Warren Zaïre-Emery in the 75th minute.
Forwards –
Désiré Doué (6) – His qualities with the ball need no further demonstration, but he sometimes made the wrong choices. He also needs to learn to manage his solo moments and the times when he needs to be more altruistic. Nevertheless, he had a good game. Replaced in the 80th minute by Ibrahim Mbaye.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (6) – Certainly not his best game of the year, but even if he was a little behind offensively, his contribution to the team defensively was constant. Replaced by Lee Kang-in in the 75th minute.
Gonçalo Ramos (5) – A striker who doesn’t score has almost missed his match. That’s not always true, but Ramos wasn’t sensational. He battled and pressed, but lacked that little something to make his performance even better. Replaced by Senny Mayulu in the 65th minute.
Coach –
Luis Enrique (7) – He never comes down from his cloud, especially not from his daily demands. He wants to win this competition and he got the message across to the players, who were back in their warm-up gear after the LDC victory.
