A Dominant PSG Embarrass Real Madrid, Mbappe: Takeaways From Club World Cup Semifinal | OneFootball

Nothing went right for Real Madrid in their 4–0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup semifinals.

Two of the favorites to win the Club World Cup faced off at MetLife Stadium with a trip to the final on the line. PSG, the newly crowned European champions clashed with Real Madrid, the previous European champions, in what many expected to be the best match of this summer’s newly expanded tournament.

Except what unfolded was a dominant performance from PSG and a rather lifeless effort from Real Madrid. Luis Enrique’s men got off to a fast start going up 2–0 just nine minutes into the match thanks to goals from Fabián Ruiz and Ousmane Dembélé, gifted to the Parisians by poor defensive mistakes from Raúl Asencio and Antonio Rüdiger respectively.

Ruiz bagged his second of the semifinal in the 24th minute in what was a show-stopping first half from PSG. The Parisians carved Real Madrid open, and capped off their impressive performance with a fourth goal just before the final whistle from Gonçalo Ramos.

PSG are now headed to the Club World Cup final where they will take on Chelsea while Real Madrid’s time in the United States is over.

Here’s three takeaways from the lopsided Club World Cup semifinal.

Defensive Errors Haunt Real Madrid

Antonio Rüdiger (right) could do nothing but look on as Ousmane Dembélé doubled PSG's lead. / IMAGO/Sportsphoto

Just when it looked like Real Madrid had put their past defensive woes behind them, a flurry of mistakes saw Alonso’s men concede two goals within the first nine minutes at MetLife Stadium. Asencio’s poor attempt at a clearance and subsequent slip was bad enough to gift PSG their first goal, but then Rüdiger followed it up with an awful blunder of his own less than three minutes later.

The two errors will be the main talking points following the defeat, but Real Madrid were all over the place defensively. Fran García, who played a great tournament up until the semifinals, was outclassed by Désiré Doué and Achraf Hakimi. Fede Valverde was also out of his depth on the right flank, and Kylian Mbappé still showed no interest in tracking back.

Had Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold been on the pitch, perhaps the scoreline would have looked differently come the final whistle. Huijsen was Real Madrid’s best defender of the tournament and would likely not have made the same careless mistake as Asencio. Alexander-Arnold could have also helped Los Blancos get out of their own half with his brilliant build-up play.

Regardless, PSG were miles better than a Real Madrid side that put in a defensive performance reminiscent of the Carlo Ancelotti era. Arguably the biggest indication was just how often Jude Bellingham got stuck covering ground for his teammates.

The nightmare match for Los Blancos highlighted just how much work there is still to do for Alonso to get the La Liga runners-up back to championship-worthy form.

Ousmane Dembele Stamps Claim on Ballon d’Or

Ousmane Dembélé showed out against Real Madrid. / IMAGO/Sportimage

In his first start of the Club World Cup, Dembélé showed once again why he is the favorite to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or. Following a brilliant campaign for PSG in which he recorded 33 goals and 15 assists, the Frenchman picked up right where he left off in Europe at this summer's newly expanded Club World Cup.

Even without playing PSG’s three group stage fixtures due to injury, Dembélé made his presence felt in the knockout stage. When the European champions went down to nine men against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals, the 28-year-old bagged his team’s much-needed insurance goal. With a trip to the final on the line, Dembélé set up PSG’s first goal and then buried their second.

The forward’s impressive performance goes beyond his goalscoring, though. His relentless pressing and irrefutable work-rate put him in a class of his own. On every stage in 2024–25 season, from the Champions League to Ligue 1 to now the Club World Cup, Dembélé has walked away as the best player on the best team in the sport.

Lamine Yamal and Raphinha put in stellar campaigns for Barcelona last season, but it is hard to deny Dembélé the most prestigious award in soccer when he shows up and shows out time and time again. Should he lead PSG to a fifth trophy this season, the Ballon d’Or is all-but his.

Xabi Alonso’s Attacking Experiment Goes Horribly Wrong

Vinícius Júnior struggled on the right wing against PSG. / IMAGO/Gribaudi/ImagePhoto

Alonso turned heads when he started a front three of Mbappé, Gonzalo García and Vinícius Júnior. The former Bayer Leverkusen manager gave the left wing, which normally belongs to Vinícius Júnior, to Mbappé, forcing the Brazilian to play on the right.

The perplexing decision did not pay off. The attack was so disjointed in the first half that Vinícius Júnior found himself drifting centrally in the second half just to get involved in the game. His efforts ultimately proved fruitless, though; the 24-year-old was pulled in the 64th minute with only 10 completed passes to his name after creating zero chances and managing just one shot (which was blocked).

Gonzalo, meanwhile, looked out of his element on the right and found no success in Alonso’s experimental front three. Some of his struggles resulted from poor service from his teammates, but he just could get nothing going. The 21-year-old lost the most duels (7) in the match and took zero shots.

With his fellow forwards playing poorly, Mbappé needed to take charge of the attack, but even he underwhelmed. Yes, he had just about every decent chance for Real Madrid, but that’s not saying much considering the team recorded all of two shots on target.

Alonso will have to answer for his questionable decision to start a head-scratching front three in the biggest match of his early tenure at Real Madrid.