Club World Cup: PSG Aim to Confirm its Place as Europe’s Number One

Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Madrid

Two of Europe’s heavyweights come face to face at the Met-life Stadium at East Rutherford on Wednesday as Paris Saint-Germain take on Real Madrid in the 2025 Club World Cup semi-final.   

Luis Enrique’s PSG are Champions League champions, taking the title from 2024 holders Real Madrid and the argument over which team is now the best is one which will seriously divide opinion. Barcelona and Manchester City would have something to say about which club is Europe’s finest…but the Blaugrana and the Sky Blues are not in the USA so it’s down to PSG and Los Blancos to fight it out.

I’d say PSG currently have the edge over Real Madrid, though, under new head coach Xabi Alonso, Los Blancos will be an exciting team to watch this year in La Liga and in Europe. As a manager with Celta Vigo and Barcelona, Enrique has a decent record against Real Madrid, with four wins, three defeats and a single draw from his eight encounters so far. But, once again, he will meet a team in good shape. Both PSG and Madrid beat Bundesliga big shots to reach the final, PSG saw off German champions Bayern Munich while Los Blancos took care of Borussia Dortmund. 

Chelsea or Fluminense await the winner of this tie and the SBOTOP Club World Cup 2025 betting odds say that the eventual champions will come from Wednesday’s bout between the French and their Spanish challengers. So let’s take a closer look at the two clubs and make our pick.  

 

Talking Points

PSG duo suspended

Enrique’s men dug deep to beat Bayern Munich, with two late goals courtesy of Desire Doue and Osumane Dembele, but the win came at a cost as both Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernadez picked up late red cards and will miss the showcase semi-final. That leaves PSG a little short down the left side and Lucas Beraldo is likely to get the nod in defence alongside Marquinhos as Enrique shuffles his pack.

But the Parisiens will try to play on the front foot and take the game to the Spaniards, with Dembele leading the attack with the live-wire Doue on the wing. This is a team with plenty of fluidity, and wingback Achraf Hakimi has scored two goals so far and he will look forward to facing his former team, while 20-year-old Portuguese star Joao Neves has impressed too, also bagging two goals.

Paris Saint-Germain have multiple threats…but then so do Real Madrid.      

 

Mbappe to face PSG for the first time

He was Real Madrid’s marquee signing of 2024 and, on Wednesday, France striker Kylian Mbappe is likely to grab the Club World Cup 2025 news headlines if, as expected, he plays a part for Los Blancos against his old mates. Since he left the French champions, on expiry of his contract, Mbappe has teamed up in a front line alongside the Brazilian duo of Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior. And, while Rodrygo is currently away and is the subject of transfer speculation, another attacking star has taken his chance.

21-year-old Academy star Goncalo Garcia’s four goals have seen his star rise rapidly. He took his chance brilliantly when Mbappe was ill and Garcia has a great chance of starting again against PSG. The Madrid creative group is supplied by new signing Trent Alexander-Arnold and Turkish winger Arda Guler, who have made two assists each and this promises to be an attacking clash from both sides.

Meanwhile, Los Blancos have a defensive headache too as another summer signing, Dean Huijsen, was sent off against Dortmund and Raul Asencio is likely to step in to centre back, alongside Anton Rudiger.  

 

History

PSG are 13 times Ligue 1 winners and now, finally, European champions; but they have a long way to go to reach the heights of Los Blancos, who are 36 times Kings of Spain and Conquerors of Europe a record 15 times.

With six wins to three, Real Madrid have enjoyed the better of the head-to-head meetings with PSG, winning the last encounter, in the 2022 Champions League Round of 16, as a 17-minute hat-trick from Karim Benzema blew the Parisiens apart.

Both teams have won five of their last six games, though Los Blancos are unbeaten in that sequence.       

 

Betting Tip

Real Madrid are priced at 2.49 to win this huge clash with the draw in 90 minutes at 3.26; so it’s a tie on a knife-edge. I think there will be goals, so my alternative bet would be Over 3.00 goals at a price of 1.92, while a correct score line of 2-1 to PSG is at 8.68.  

   

●●●

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS

Stay updated with everything sports and betting.

Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.