European champions Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday crushed Spanish giants Real Madrid 4-0 in the Club World Cup semi-final, setting up a final against Chelsea and an opportunity to close out a historically dominant season with a fifth trophy.
Fabian Ruiz scored twice as European championsParis Saint-Germainturned on the style in their reunion withKylian Mbappon Wednesday, thrashingReal Madrid4-0 in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup to set up a final showdown withChelsea.
Ruiz andOusmane Dembelescored inside the opening nine minutes to stun Real and silence the majority of the 77,542 crowd who were wearing white at the MetLife Stadium outsideNew York.
The Spanish midfielder added another before half-time and Goncalo Ramos got a late fourth as Luis Enrique's side moved one game away from glory atFIFA's new tournament.
Victory against Chelsea on Sunday would complete a campaign of unparalleled success for the Parisians, whowontheFrench titleand then the firstUEFA Champions Leaguein their history in May.
"We are in a special season, a special moment, and we deserved to win," Luis Enrique told broadcaster DAZN before looking ahead to the final.
"We are going to try, one more step against a good team like Chelsea. They did great, they performed the whole competition and now it is time for us to prepare for that ... we want to make history in our club, and then take some holidays."
Afterblowing away Inter Milan 5-0, the biggest victory in European Cup final history, PSG began their Club World Cup bid by putting four pastAtletico Madridand the ease with which they disposed of Real here was striking.
Read moreDazzling PSG crush Inter Milan to end long quest for Champions League glory
PSG's fluidity contrasted starkly with Madrid, who are a work in progress under new coach Xabi Alonso. Meanwhile Mbappe struggled to make any impact on his first start at the tournament and in his first game against PSG since leaving the French club a year ago.
"We were not good enough today," said Alonso. "We are not the first ones to lose to them but we have a lot of different things to improve."
The France captain was hoping for a different outcome against the team for whom he scored a club record 256 goals, and the defeat is a real blow to Real as they hoped to win the first 32-team Club World Cup to add to their record tally of 15 European Cups.
But PSG have improved without Mbapp and are now such a well-oiled machine that they appear unstoppable it would be a big surprise if they failed to beat Chelsea.
Luis Enrique was without imposing centre-back Willian Pacho due to suspension following his sending-off againstBayern Munichin thequarter-finals, but that did not matter.
Lucas Beraldo slotted into the defence with ease, and the rest of PSG's first-choice line-up was there.
Day to forget for Mbappe
Real were missing central defender Dean Huijsen through suspension, while the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold was an added blow.
The return to the starting XI of Mbapp, who missed the entire group stage through illness, did not prevent young striker Gonzalo Garcia from keeping his place.
But the Spanish giants' front line, completed by Vinicius Junior, made no real impact, such was the extent of PSG's domination.
Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made two superb saves inside the opening five minutes, the first to tip away a Ruiz shot, and the second to deny Nuno Mendes from point-blank range.
Yet Courtois could not prevent Paris from scoring in the sixth minute, as Dembele pounced on slack defending by Raul Asencio. The Real 'keeper saved at the forward's feet but Ruiz converted the loose ball.
Three minutes later and the contest was effectively over when Antonio Rudiger failed to control a simple pass from Jude Bellingham, allowing Dembele to run through before finishing low into the corner.
Like his friend Mbappe, Dembele was starting for the first time at the competition having been injured. That was a 34th club goal since August for a player who is a serious candidate for theBallon d'Or.
It was turning into a humiliating afternoon for Real as PSG got their third midway through the first half.
A deflected shot by Mbapp was easily held by Gianluigi Donnarumma, and no Madrid player touched the ball again before they were picking it out of their own net a minute later.
Dembele released Achraf Hakimi on the right and he squared for Ruiz, the Spain star taking a touch to hold off Fede Valverde before finishing.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia could have got a fourth before the interval, while Desire Doue had a goal disallowed for offside early in the second half.
But Real were not coming back, and Alonso opted to take off Bellingham and Vinicius just after the hour mark in a clear sign of surrender.
PSG then got their fourth after 87 minutes when Ramos controlled a pass from fellow substitute Bradley Barcola, turned and fired in.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Originally published on France24
