Club World Cup: Born in the USA – Now Here’s A Tie Which Befits The WCC

Paris Saint-Germain vs Atletico Madrid

A rare humdinger of a tie in the newly fangled FIFA Club World Cup and, at last, a contest to excite this SBOTOP scribe.

I’m sure there will be a few big games later on but the group stage is largely a meet up between giants and minnows.

This, however, is very different.

With these two, we can truly look forward to some World Club Championship 2025 highlights as newly crowned European champions Paris St Germain take on Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid in the Pasadena Rose Bowl.

The stage is set for a game which well and truly befits the title of World Club Championship.

Talking Points

Presumably, rather than a ploy to reinforce FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s political power, it was this type of heavyweight clash fans had in mind when the idea of the tournament was first mooted.

The talent in the Parisiens ranks is obvious and, without highlighting the obvious attacking talent, there are genuinely world-class players in nearly every area.

To me, Gianluigi Donnarumma is probably the world’s best goalkeeper, Fabian Ruiz was a star of Spain’s triumph at the European Championship last summer and centre-back and captain Marquinhos is one of the bright spots from a relatively lean generation for Brazil.

And what of Nuno Mendes, also excellent for Portugal as they won the Nations League last Sunday.

The 22 year-old comes off the back of a superb season in which he netted four Champions League goals and ravaged opponents, both attackers and defenders, with his athleticism.

A major player in the game ever since the Qatar Sports Investments takeover of 2011, let us make no mistake: PSG are currently the best team in the world, treble winners and champions of Europe, the scalps of three recent finalists dangling from their belts on that run.

While PSG dominated in France and Europe last term, Atletico finished third in La Liga behind champions Barcelona and city rivals Real Madrid.

Simeone’s side ended their domestic campaign in decent form by winning three of their last four games, including a 4-0 away win at Girona on the final day.

Diego Simeone prepares Atletico Madrid ahead of their Club World Cup battle against Paris Saint-Germain — Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone during their match against Real Sociedad

Their main threat will be star striker Julian Alvarez, who netted 33 times in all competitions in his first term at the club.

Atletico have made two signings ahead of the tournament by ensuring Juan Musso and Clement Lenglet’s loan spells were made permanent.

The next signing could be AC Milan left-back Theo Hernandez.It’s reported the Rossoneri is looking to move on the French international with a sizable salary after failing to qualify for European football. The 27 year-old came through the academy at Atletico, before making a €24million switch to rivals Real Madrid.

The deadline has passed for him to feature in this tournament though.

With matches against Botafogo and Seattle Sounders to follow, both PSG and Atletico should have plenty in the tank to reach the knockout stages, but this has the potential to be the best group game of all.

History

These sides have met just once competitively and it was in the campaign just finished.

Of course, that ended in style for the Parisiens as they secured their first ever Euro crown with a dismantling of Inter Milan just a fortnight ago.

In the group stages in November, Atletico had actually gone to Paris and won 2-1 with Angel Correa scoring a stoppage time winner after Warren Zaire-Emery and Nahuel Molina had traded early goals.

On that occasion, Simeone’s side went to the French capital carrying its usual bag of tricks: a hard-nosed mentality coupled with well-organized team shape and some opportunism when a rare chance presented itself.

Their only other meeting was in a 2018 friendly in Singapore, which PSG edged out by the odd goal in five.