With the memory of their first ever Champions League triumph still vivid, Paris Saint-Germain made a statement in the first round of the 2025 Club World Cup with a thumping 4-0 win over another European giant, Atletico Madrid.
Paris were in charge of Spaniards from the 19th minute as Fabian Ruiz broke the usually stubborn Atletico resistance and the excellent Vitinha doubled the lead just before the break. Los Rojiblancos did fight back at the start of the second period but Argentine striker Julian Alvarez was denied a goal when Koke was penalised for a foul in the build up. Late goals from Senny Mayulu and Lee Kang-in gave the score a lob-sided look, but to whack four past Atleti without reply is some feat and Los Rojiblancos’ day got even worse when their French defender Clement Lenglet was red carded.
The Club World Cup 2025 betting odds place PSG alongside Real Madrid and Manchester City as likely winners and on this evidence, Luis Enrique’s side are the team to beat. They are brimming with confidence and have that winning habit which will be hard to break. Meanwhile, Atleti need to find their feet quickly if they are to avoid a rapid exit.
Delap stars in Chelsea win
In our SBOTOP preview of Chelsea’s clash with Los Angeles we picked out the Blues’ summer signing Liam Delap as a player to watch, and he made a bright start to his career in West London with an assist, as Chelsea picked up a comfortable 2-0 win over the MLS outfit. The former Ipswich Town striker made an assist late in the second half after climbing off the bench midway through the second period.
The Blues were already 1-0 up after Pedro Neto sprung the offside trap to collect a Nicolas Jackson through ball and slide it past ex Tottenham Hotpsur keeper Hugo Lloris. Delap made his mark when he picked up a pass from Cole Palmer and curled in a brilliant cross from the right flank to give Enzo Fernandez an easy finish. Enzo Maresca’s Blues are in a good place after winning the Europa Conference League and earning a Champions League place with a fourth-place finish in the Premier League. It seems that Maresca finally has this expensively assembled squad functioning.
The great Sergio Ramos still has it!
Just 17 days after they suffered a 5-0 humiliation to PSG in the Champions League final, Inter Milan were thwarted in their Club World Cup opener as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Mexican club Monterrey. And it was veteran centre back Sergio Ramos who did the damage, scoring a superb first-half header before Inter striker Lautaro Martinez levelled before the break. Despite dominating possession I Nerazzurri failed to capitalise and Monterray were happy to hold on for a point, with Ramos a powerful figure at the heart of defence. He’s been doing this for over two decades now and the 39-year-old Ramos is clearly enjoying his football as captain of Monterrey. He scored over 100 goals for Real Madrid and 23 goals in 180 internationals with Spain, and Ramos will go down as the most prolific centre back, at the top level of football, in history.
This was Inter boss Cristian Chivu’s first game in charge after the departure of Simone Inzaghi to Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League, and he thought he had a win when Martinez had the ball in the net again in the second half, but the flag went up for a marginal offside.
Bayern run riot against Auckland minnows
Of all the first round of Club World Cup 2025 results the most eye-catching has to be Bayern Munich’s 10-0 destruction of New Zealand’s Auckland City in Cincinnati. The Bavarians like to hand out a thrashing, rarely easy on opponents further down the food chain and they showed no mercy to the part-time Kiwis as winger Jamal Musiala helped himself to a hat-trick.
It took only six minutes for Kingsley Coman to break open Auckland’s defence with a nicely taken header and then he teed up a second for Sacha Boey. Coman bagged his second and Michael Olise got on the score-sheet twice too, with veteran striker Thomas Muller making it 6-0 by the break. Musiala curled in his first midway through the second half before converting a penalty, and he completed his hat-trick within 17 minutes, and Muller made it ten with his second of the game, as Bayern recorded the biggest victory in the competition’s history.
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