Lionel Messi faced a disheartening experience in his inaugural match against a former club, as an electric Paris Saint-Germain team thoroughly outplayed Inter Miami, securing a commanding 4-0 win in the last-16 clash of the Club World Cup (CWC) in Atlanta.
Though the Floridians entered the match with an unbeaten record from the group stage, they were clearly seen as the underdogs when up against the reigning European champions.
The disparity in quality was evident from the start, as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia sliced through Miami’s defence with ease, setting up Bradley Barcola, who forced Oscar Ustari into a save within minutes.
The Herons overlooked this warning, conceding an early goal in just the sixth minute from a poorly executed free-kick. João Neves was granted the freedom to make a run around the back, nodding the ball home from a deep free-kick delivered by Vitinha.
Javier Mascherano’s squad seemed capable of keeping the scoreline to just one goal during the first half, but the French giants unleashed a series of punishing attacks towards the end of the period.
Fabián Ruiz was instrumental in PSG’s second goal, winning the ball high up the pitch, linking up with Barcola, and then setting up Neves to finish with ease for his second.
Things went from bad to worse for Messi and his teammates when substitute Tomás Avilés inadvertently redirected a cross from Désiré Doué into his own net. Shortly after, Achraf Hakimi found the back of the net after his initial shot hit the crossbar, marking PSG’s third goal in a breathtaking nine-minute stretch for Miami.
With the second half simply a matter of salvaging some dignity, the MLS team finally managed their first shot on target just after the hour mark, but Messi’s weak effort was easily collected by Gianluigi Donnarumma at the near post.
As the match progressed, Luis Enrique’s men eased off the gas, although Barcola still threatened with a deflected shot that narrowly missed the net’s roof.
At the other end, Donnarumma made a superb save, denying Messi’s downward header and preventing the Argentine from netting his seventh CWC goal.
The Herons ultimately ended their CWC campaign without finding the net, while PSG will remain in Atlanta for a quarter-final showdown against either Flamengo or Bayern Munich on Saturday.
Catch a summary of the match here.
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Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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