By Daily Sports Nigeria on June 16, 2025

Newly crowned European champions Paris St-Germain cruised past Atletico Madrid for a winning start to their first ever Fifa Club World Cup campaign.

The French side dominated the early stages in searing heat in front of an 80,619-strong crowd at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, enjoying 82.6% possession in the first 15 minutes.

They led when Fabian Ruiz rifled a low strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.

Portuguese striker Goncalo Ramos missed the target with three attempts, before Vitinha drifted through the middle of the Atletico defence just before half-time and slotted past Jan Oblak to put his side in firm control.

Oblak kept his side in the game by tipping Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's bending strike on to the crossbar minutes after the restart, before Julian Alvarez had a goal disallowed for a foul by Koke on Desire Doue in the build-up.

Atletico were reduced to 10 men in bizarre circumstances in the 78th minute when Clement Lenglet was shown a second yellow card for dissent after referee Istvan Kovacs failed to act when Oblak was impeded while attempting to roll the ball out.

Diego Simeone's side should have pulled a goal back eight minutes from time, but substitute Alexander Sorloth missed an open goal from a few yards when a low cross found him at the far post.

Substitute Senny Mayulu followed up his goalscoring cameo in last month's Champions League final by firing into the bottom corner in the 87th minute.

There was drama in added time as Ibrahim Mbaye hit the post for PSG, before Atleti defender Robin le Normand was punished for handball by the video assistant referee (VAR) and Lee Kang-in slotted home the penalty for his side's fourth goal.

With the match kicking off at midday local time, players and fans were subjected to blazing sunshine as the temperature reached 31C in Pasadena.

Fifa's decision to schedule 35 of the 63 games earlier than 17:00 local time has raised eyebrows, not least from world players' union Fifpro.

It believes Fifa's guidelines on cooling breaks "do not do enough to protect the health and performance of players". One cooling break is permitted in each half if the 'wet bulb globe temperature' (WBGT) - a measure of heat stress combining heat and humidity - reaches 32C.

Sunday's match contained two cooling breaks, which many of the players spent with towels covering their heads.

After the match PSG midfielder and player of the match Vitinha described the playing conditions as "difficult", while manager Luis Enrique said the heat "had an impact on the game."

With the 2026 World Cup held in the US, Canada and Mexico a year from now, the issue of playing in potentially dangerous temperatures will continue to cause concern.

Source BBC Sports

Posted June 16, 2025

Champions Leicester record first EPL win of the...

Benitez cries foul as Newcastle

Pochettino Confident Mbappe Can Get Job Done Against...

NTA to transmit AFCON matches

Saka puts Rivers Utd to the sword, fetches...

Stanbic IBTC unveiled as major sponsor as varsity...