PSG 4-0 Atletico Madrid: Luis Enrique’s side dispatch their toughest opponents in Group B
Paris Saint-Germain scored four but for much of the 90 minutes it really didn’t feel like that kind of game. Sure, the Parisians were in full control and the first came quickly: it took only 19 minutes for Fabian Ruiz to slam in his side’s opener. But then Atletico hung in there, and PSG’s second just before the break came only seconds after the Spanish side had wasted a glorious opportunity to level the score.
In the second half things were a bit indeterminate, teetering as the sides struggled to find the right gear in the searing California heat, the Rose Bowl stadium lying open like a giant alien dish as the full wrath of the sun blazed in. Atletico in fact got a goal in but the referee adjudged Desire Doue to have been fouled in the build-up. Then in the dying stages of the game the Spanish side self-destructed and PSG quickly took advantage.
The game itself, on paper and considering the stakes involved, vaguely resembled a Champions League tie – but stripped of the culture, the tradition, the ambience, and covered with the candy coating of Gianni Infantino’s forced and laboured contrivance. It was football, but at the same time it felt like it was trying too hard to be.
It was already looking good for PSG in the 19th minute after Fabian Ruiz drove a low shot into the bottom right corner, following some brilliant team play. Enrique’s side had been the better team before then but the goal seemed to define proceedings better, more clearly reinforce their position as the superior team.
It was 77 per cent possession at some point, PSG passing the ball around and Atletico not in fact doing much of the work of chasing – which was understandable, given the heat. The water break seemed to do little to help.
Atletico had the chance to equalise as the first half neared its end, but Antoine Griezmann’s tame shot was easily saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. PSG then galloped all the way back across the pitch, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia driving inside and giving it over to Vitinha, who took a few more steps and finished emphatically.
It seemed like some life had been breathed back into Atletico in the second half as PSG lost some control and the game opened up more. Julian Alvarez looked like he had halved the lead in the 60th minute but the goal was chalked off for a foul in the build-up.
Atletico then grew tetchy, receiving a flurry of yellow cards. Ultimately it led to a red card in the 78th minute when Clement Lenglet committed a foul and, after being spared a second yellow by the referee’s leniency, managed to talk himself into one.
Shortly after, Alexander Sorloth wasted a chance once more to halve the lead, with what was a certain contender for miss of the tournament. The Norwegian ran onto a cross in the box but somehow contrived to loop the ball over the cross bar from right in front of the open goal.
A few minutes of casual passing and timewasting followed, before Senny Mayulu made it 3-0. The ball had begged to be cleared from the penalty area but Atletico, shorn of the desire to meaningfully compete, were unable to.
Just in stoppage time Atletico were harshly punished for the ball striking Robin Le Normand’s arm. Kang-in Lee made it 4-0 for PSG and just after that the final whistle blew, Atletico too far past caring to complain about the fairness of the penalty.
