Paris Saint-Germain stormed past Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami with a convincing 4-0 win to reach the Club World Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.
Fans packed the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta hoping for magic from Messi, who was playing against his former club.
Many in the 66,000-strong crowd wore Miami’s pink jerseys or Argentina shirts, all eager to see a special performance.
However, the French champions made sure there were no surprises, showing their strength from the start and dominating the game throughout.
PSG’s Joao Neves scored twice, with the first goal coming just six minutes into the match. After a foul by Miami defender Marcelo Weigandt on Desire Doue, Vitinha delivered a sharp free-kick to the back post. Neves met it with a diving header to give PSG the lead.
Inter Miami tried to stay in the game for a while but PSG’s pressure proved too much. Before halftime, the Ligue 1 side scored three more goals in quick succession. Neves added his second after stealing the ball near the Miami box, following a poor touch by Sergio Busquets. He then combined with Barcola for an easy tap-in.
The third goal came when Tomas Aviles accidentally deflected a cross into his own net. Achraf Hakimi completed the first-half rout with a rebound shot after his first effort bounced off the crossbar.
Messi, who is now 38, tried to inspire his team with clever passes, including a perfect chip to Luis Suarez. But the Uruguayan couldn’t finish. Messi also forced a save from PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma in the second half and had a late free-kick blocked by the wall.
Despite being well beaten, Miami improved slightly after the break. They created a few chances and kept PSG from adding more goals, but it wasn’t enough. Coach Javier Mascherano also had to deal with an injury to Noah Allen, adding to his team’s troubles.
Luis Enrique brought on Ousmane Dembele late in the match, giving him some minutes after recovering from injury, but the winger looked off the pace.
