Lionel Messi’s team, Paris Saint-Germain, defeated Inter Miami 4-0 on Sunday to reach the Club World Cup quarter-finals.
Miami hoped the Argentine superstar’s combination would help them defeat his former team, but Luis Enrique’s fervent European champions defeated them in Atlanta.
The quality gap between the teams was exposed in the final 90 minutes, but Messi and his former Barcelona team-mates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba had done well to reach the last 16.
A Tomas Aviles own goal gave PSG the lead, and Joao Neves scored twice, and Achraf Hakimi also had a goal.
Miami resisted until PSG scored three goals in 10 minutes toward the end of the first half after Neves opened the scoring early in the second half.
The main attraction was Messi, who was chanted his name by the 66, 000 people who were clad in Miami’s hot pink and wearing Argentina shirts throughout.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia jumped into the box and beat Bradley Barcola, but Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari bent over and prevented him with an extended leg. PSG dominated right from the beginning.
However, Desire Dou was fouled by Miami right-back Marcelo Weigandt shortly after, which caused PSG’s opener.
After six minutes, Vitinha whipped a free-kick past Ustari, who was then completely unmarked, before stooping to nod past the Portuguese midfielder.
After PSG’s Fabian Ruiz was given an offside penalty, Miami’s Noah Allen suffered an injury-related limping off, causing yet another blow to Javier Mascherano’s side.
Miami struggled to get Messi involved when the Ligue 1 champions were pressing high and in control.
Tadeo Allende’s 38-year-old Argentine superstar made a superbly weighted pass down the right flank, but a rare Miami break was all that happened.
Messi’s sporadic interventions did not help stop the Parisian trend.
When veteran holding midfielder Busquets mishandled his footwork in front of his own box in the 39th minute, PSG doubled their lead.
Neves scored his second goal as soon as Spanish compatriot Ruiz quickly relieved him of the ball and combined with Barcola to set up his.
When Aviles deflected Doue’s cross into his own net before half-time, PSG took their third, and Hakimi netted the fourth to put them out of sight.
The Morocco international’s first effort was deflected onto the crossbar, but he stayed alert at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s air-conditioned concourse to fire home the rebound.
Messi, the Argentine, raged against the midfielder, Miami’s impotence, and PSG’s swagger as the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner lost his cool with a swipe at Vitinha.
– Determined Messi –
Suarez was gifted a brilliant pass by Messi to the PSG defense in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Uruguayan was unable to finish and give Miami a lifeline.
The Argentine was determined to leave with a bang despite the possibility of a comeback — there was no such thing as what Luis Enrique’s Barcelona did against PSG from four goals down in which Messi and Suarez scored.
After the hour mark, Messi made his first save with a low effort from Gianluigi Donnarumma of PSG.
Ousmane Dembele, who had a hamstring injury, was sent to Luis Enrique for his first tournament appearance, but he was rusty and inaccurate.
Messi had the opportunity to reclaim his free-kick winner against Porto in the group stage when Lucas Beraldo fouled Suarez on the edge of the box, but his effort fell apart.
Although it wasn’t Messi or Miami’s fault, their second-half performance was respectable and the defeat was less than the French side’s 5-0 Champions League final thrashing of Inter Milan.
Source: Channels TV
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