The adventure of Lionel Messi at the Club World Cup is well finished this Sunday after an eighth finals without suspense against PSG. The formation of Luis Enrique was easily qualified for the quarter-finals by winning 4-0, with all of its goals scored during the first period, Sunday in Atlanta, in the ultra-modern Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Joao Neves first offered a double, from the head on a free kick from Vitinha (6th) then on an offering by Fabian Ruiz following a loss of bullet by Sergio Busquets (39th). A CSC allowed the PSG to lead 3-0, Tomas Aviles propelling a center of Désiré Doué for its own purpose (44th). Then Achraf Hakimi again made the nets tremble. Vitinha made a magnificent opening for Bradley Barcola on this action (45th+3).
After 45 distressing minutes, Lionel Messi and his teammates reacted well at the start of the second period. The meeting was a little more balanced with the many changes made by Luis Enrique (Warren, Zaïre-Emery, Lucas Berado, Ousmane Dembélé for his return to competition, Lee Kang-in and Lucas Hernandez came into play).
Messi on Donnarumma
The golden ball record holder was first distinguished with a delicious pass for Luis Suarez on a center of Jordi Alba (47th). The Uruguayan veteran stacked the brushes in front of the Parisian goal … Messi then struck twice on his former teammate Gianluigi Donnarumma, after overflowing Willian Pacho and Lucas Beraldo (62nd), then a fairly distant head (80th). Before a last full free kick axis directly in the wall (88th)
Invited by FIFA last December as a representative of the host country (without being MLS champion, being only first of the regular season), Inter Miami created the surprise by finishing second in group A of the World Cup, thanks to a 2-1 victory against Porto on the second day. PSG, for its part, awaits the winner of Flamengo-Bayern (10 p.m. in France) for a quarter-final scheduled for next Saturday in Atlanta.
