Chelsea vs. PSG: Four Key Battles That Could Decide Club World Cup Final | OneFootball

The pre-tournament projections of European domination didn’t quite come to pass at the revamped Club World Cup, but the competition’s showpiece event will be contested between two UEFA members.

It’s a battle of the Champions League and Conference League winners on Sunday, with Paris Saint-Germain taking on Chelsea at MetLife.

The Parisians entered the tournament as the team to beat off the back of their stunning victory over Inter in Munich, and despite one blemish, Luis Enrique’s side have shown no signs of wilting in the American sun. They’re the best team in the world, and perhaps the finest we’ve seen for quite some time, but Chelsea have proven in the past that they can wreak havoc as the underdogs.

Here are four key battles that could decide Sunday’s Club World Cup final.

1. Robert Sánchez vs. PSG’s Press

Robert Sánchez isn’t adverse to mistakes with the ball at his feet. / IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire

Statistically, Bayern Munich were the most proficient pressers at the tournament, but PSG rank fourth for shots and second for goals resulting from high turnovers per 90 minutes (via Opta).

We know how majestic they are in possession, but their work without the ball so often sets the tone. With everyone buying into Enrique’s ideas, this PSG team press unrelentingly. Everybody knows their roles. Energy is supplied all over the pitch, but particularly from full-back, with traps set to dispossess opponents in central areas.

Madrid simply couldn’t cope, and their inability to escape PSG’s press meant their superstars in attack barely had a sniff.

Key to PSG’s semifinal rout were the two early mistakes they forced Madrid into as a result of their intensity out of possession. Chelsea have the players in the build-up phase to just about cope with PSG’s synergy, but one man the French side will surely look to target is the goalkeeper.

Robert Sánchez has been sturdy enough this summer, which is perhaps disconcerting for Chelsea supporters. There’s a costly error on the horizon, and it’s easy to envisage the Spaniard being caught out under pressure. The goalkeeper also has a big role to play in playing over PSG’s press, with long balls likely to be a key avenue for the Blues.

2. Battle of Box-Crashers

Enzo Fernández has evolved into a goalscorer under Enzo Maresca. / IMAGO/Eibner

Fabián Ruíz was perhaps the best player at Euro 2024 and a mainstay for Enrique’s side last season, yet it doesn’t seem like the Spaniard gets discussed in the same light as some of his teammates.

The classy midfield operator manifested his value again in the semifinal, as he scored twice in PSG’s 4–0 rout of Madrid. While we know he’s a threat from range, Fabián also boasts tremendous value as a box-crasher from deep, much like Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández.

The Argentine has evolved into a frequent goalscorer under Maresca, with his more advanced role offering him more opportunities to overload defences in the box. Fernández’s Club World Cup started with the sort of goal we’d grown familiar with the midfielder scoring last season. He’s developed a great sense of timing, often catching himself on the blind side of defenders.

He functions differently to Fabián as a goalscorer, with the Spaniard possessing more of a threat from cutbacks and loose balls.

The pair are set to see plenty of each other on Sunday.

3. João Pedro: X-Factor

Chelsea’s summer addition scored both goals in their semifinal win. / IMAGO/Nicolo Campo

It’s a bit silly that you can add players to your squad midway through the tournament, but Chelsea have taken advantage of FIFA’s allowance by signing João Pedro, who could function as their x-factor in Sunday’s final.

The Brazilian wasn’t expected to have taken to life with the Blues so quickly, but he couldn’t have asked for a more promising start. A lively cameo off the bench was followed up by his first start for the club, and he scored two wonderful goals in Chelsea‘s semifinal victory over Fluminense, his boyhood club.

His performance last time out has assured Pedro of his place in Sunday’s starting XI, and although Maresca has the likes of Cole Palmer and the in-form Pedro Neto in his ranks, the new addition may be the man Chelsea lean on to destabilise this Parisian juggernaut.

It may be hard to discover, but there is a fallibility within this PSG team. Technical brilliance in the build-up could compromise their press, and you would suggest that this is a centre-back pairing that can be got at in Willian Pacho’s absence. Pedro is no target-man, but he’s physical enough to compete with his compatriots at the heart of PSG’s backline.

No matter how well Chelsea perform, they’re likely to be limited to moments on Sunday, but Pedro has already shown that he can produce a little bit of magic out of nothing.

4. Containing PSG’s Front Three

How do you stop this PSG side? / IMAGO/Sports Press Photo

Ousmané Dembélé made his first start of the tournament in the semifinal, and PSG produced their most dominant display since the Champions League final. It’s no coincidence.

Dembélé may well earn the Ballon d'Or off the back of an utterly absurd 2024–25 campaign. His deployment as a fluid false nine who wreaks havoc from whatever zone of the pitch he desires has been the making of this PSG team. His clinical finish against Madrid was his 35th goal of the season.

The Frenchman seems to be the facilitator of all things good, and the elevator of those around him. While Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have shown they’re capable of taking on the responsibility in his absence, as a tandem they work in majestic harmony that no amount of individualism can compete with.

Their capacity to rotate without a second thought renders this high-powered attack almost impossible to contain. With the full-backs flying forward and midfielders crashing the box, this PSG team can hurt you in so many ways. They’ve scored 16 times at the tournament with just one reply.

Botafogo were able to contain a rotated PSG side in the group stage, but no team has been able to tame the Parisians since Dembélé’s wondrous evolution. This Chelsea team are unlikely to surrender territory. They’ll want to win the ball back high up the pitch, but their press has to be nothing short of pinpoint to avoid a bloodbath.

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