PSG Dominates Atlético Madrid in Club World Cup Showcase
Something wild happened at the Rose Bowl on June 15, 2025—not just a win, but an out-and-out demolition. Paris Saint-Germain didn’t just beat Atlético Madrid in their Club World Cup opener. They sent a warning shot to every team in the competition by thrashing the La Liga giants 4-0, and the scoreline barely tells the whole story.
This was PSG turning on all the lights and showing what European club football looks like at full power. From the first whistle, Atlético looked off-pace, with their backline creaking under the weight of PSG's speed and clinical passing. Fabian Ruiz broke through first. He pounced on a nervous Atlético clearance, kept his cool, and smashed the ball past Jan Oblak. Not even ten minutes had passed, and PSG already had the lead on a silver platter.
Atlético had hoped their trademark discipline would keep PSG quiet, but instead, it was more of a slow-motion unraveling. The next blow came from Achraf Hakimi, who’s become known for these darting runs and ice-cold finishes. He ghosted behind the defense, shrugged off challenges, and made it 2-0 with a strike that summed up PSG’s confidence and intent. The French champions barely gave Atlético a second to recompose themselves.
Attacking Power and Defensive Grit
Kylian Mbappé almost grabbed the third before halftime, weaving through defenders only to face a sharp stop by Oblak. On another night, Mbappé might’ve had a hat trick to his name, but PSG were already looking comfortable by the interval. Atlético, usually defined by their organization, looked lost, especially when trying to handle PSG's blend of pace and intelligence in attack.
Atlético’s best moment came in the second half, when Ángel Correa slipped through PSG's backline, only to slice his shot wide. That was about as close as the Spanish team came to troubling Gianluigi Donnarumma. Instead, PSG tightened their grip and started to enjoy themselves. The trio of Mbappé, Hakimi, and Lee Kang-in was simply too much for Atlético, twisting and turning defenders out of position.
The match turned emphatic in the closing stages. A driven PSG cross struck the outstretched arm of Atlético’s Luis Manuel—spot-kick, no question. After a brief VAR check, Lee Kang-in stepped up, cool as you like, and buried the penalty. That made it 3-0 and sealed Atlético’s fate, but PSG weren’t done. Moments later, another wave of pressure saw them add a fourth, hammering home their top-dog status not just in Europe, but now on a global platform.
The crowd at the Rose Bowl saw a performance that left no questions about the Parisian club’s ambitions. The defending French champions looked sharp, aggressive, and ruthless. Their defensive line held firm whenever Atlético pressed, but it was the relentless attacking—highlighted by that lethal tempo in the first half—that will have other Group B teams watching nervously.
For Atlético, this defeat exposed more than just tactical weaknesses. Their reliance on a compact system fell apart under constant pressure. The big story, though, is PSG’s arrival as a Club World Cup force. Thanks to PSG and their dominating win, the rest of the tournament just got a little more interesting.
