Paris Saint-Germain – Real Madrid: Historic rout to reach the final (4-0)

The Parisians strolled into another final and moved one step closer to a historic quadruple. They exposed all the issues that Real Madrid had already suffered under Carlo Ancelotti, and where Xabi Alonso would now have to find solutions.

Tactical analysis and match report by Juan Lauz.

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The big clash of these Club World Cup semifinals —which had taken on the tone of an early final— featured Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain against Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid. Both had different motivations: for the French side, reaching the final and aiming for the trophy meant a spectacular end to the season after winning the treble and the UEFA Champions League; for the Spanish side, it was a chance to give their fans something to cheer about after a poor season that ended with Carlo Ancelotti’s departure.

Luis Enrique’s men made only one change compared to the quarterfinal win over Bayern Munich: the inclusion of Ousmane Dembélé as a false 9 in the attack, replacing Bradley Barcola. The rest of the team remained the same, under their usual 4-3-3 formation. The lightning-fast Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi played as fullbacks; Vitinha operated at the base of midfield, with Joao Neves and Fabián Ruiz as interiors, and alongside Dembélé, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Désiré Doué played out wide.

Xabi Alonso, in his sixth match as Real Madrid’s manager, fielded both Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior together. One of the major problems Madrid had faced throughout the season had been how to fit them both into the same eleven.

The rest of the lineup was composed of Thibaut Courtois in goal, protected by Antonio Rüdiger and Raúl Asencio as the center-back pairing; Aurélien Tchouaméni as holding midfielder, Arda Güler in his usual role deep in midfield during this Club World Cup, and Jude Bellingham playing in a deeper position. Up front, the tournament sensation for the Spaniards, Gonzalo García, was joined by the French and Brazilian attackers.

Devastating start for the Madrid side

The match between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid showed a display of tactical, technical, and emotional superiority by Luis Enrique’s team, who managed to dominate nearly every phase of the game against a Real side that looked scattered, stretched, and weak without the ball. 

From the first minute, PSG settled in the opponent’s half with authority, pushing Madrid into a low block that was overwhelmed both by positional dynamics and individual quality. Courtois became an immediate figure with two outstanding saves, but they were not enough to contain the tide coming at Alonso’s men.

One of the most notable aspects was PSG’s offensive structure, flowing perfectly in their 3-2-2-3 setup. Dembélé’s drops caused constant disorder in Madrid’s backline, Doué moved through the interior squares with almost irreverent freedom, and Hakimi fixed the width, allowing Mendes to arrive from the opposite side’s second line. 

The first goal came as a natural consequence of that dominance: after a gross error by Asencio on the clearance, the ball fell to Fabián Ruiz, who opened the scoring with a clean strike from the edge of the box. PSG didn’t just look comfortable—they understood exactly where to hurt.

Minute 6’ Too much movement to handle. The lead-up to the opening goal: Luis Enrique’s men, in their usual in-possession structure, take shape in a 3-2-5 configuration. Rotational movements between the central and wide channels from Doué and Dembélé allow the former to end up attacking the half-space with a deep run.

The second goal followed the same logic: another defensive error from Madrid, this time with Rüdiger as the negative protagonist, anticipated by Dembélé, who stole the ball and finished brilliantly in the 1v1. 

Every PSG attack found a weakness in the white team. Whilst Vitinha dominated the base with short movements, technical rotations, and sharp combinations, Doué appeared as an unstoppable shadow between the lines. Vitinha once again offered a masterclass in height control: he was not just a player with many qualities—he mastered every phase of the pitch. PSG had width, depth, support, runs, and above all, coordination.

Meanwhile, Mbappé, aligned with Real Madrid, was completely trapped inside the Parisian block. Far from his natural zone, he was neutralized. Güler tried to bring clarity from deeper zones, but without real partners. Real Madrid proposed individual matchups in PSG’s first line and overloaded the flanks, but couldn’t build any continuity. The tactical gap between the two teams was enormous.

A chaotic first line of pressing

PSG’s positional interchanges were another breaking point: it didn’t matter who occupied the space, as long as someone did. The rational occupation of the half-spaces was constant, and Madrid, without the ball, looked extremely stretched. 

Vinicius and Mbappé were anarchic and uncommitted defensively, and Alonso’s 4-3-3 formation showed unmanageable distances between lines. This allowed PSG to find players between the lines with plenty of room to carry and select: the plan was clear, and its execution lethal.

Minute 19′ It’s never been this easy for PSG. The poor off-ball commitment from Vinicius and Mbappé allows the defenders to play out with ease. On top of that, within a high block, they create excessively large distances between the lines—offering the Parisians an ideal scenario to infiltrate and find the next-line pass.

The third goal was a masterpiece. A touch-and-go sequence led by Hakimi broke the press with ease, whilst Doué again escaped the backline as if dancing through cones. Fabián, arriving from the second line with perfect timing, scored his second of the match, finishing a collective move. It was a dance—not of rhythm, but of positional imbalance, collective intelligence, and technical execution.

Minute 24′ One-two, one-two. Hakimi’s use of quick give-and-gos to advance up the pitch and initiate the third goal is brilliant—a perfect example of how socio-affective superiorities can break down a defensive block. Add to that the well-timed drops to pull defenders out of position and attack in numerical equality, and it all comes together.

But PSG did not only shine with the ball. Joao Neves once again delivered a defensive performance of scandalous level. His output resembled that of a technically elevated Kanté. His reading of play, his ability to track runs, and his tenacity in duels made him an omnipresent lock. Small in stature but immense in reading: he stole balls as if he were plucking them out, without fouling, without clumsiness.

At the same time, Vitinha kept dominating every meter: from sole control to spin moves, from short passes to blind-side runs, with four or five teammates orbiting around him, moving like perfectly coordinated satellites.

Stress-free second half for the Parisians

In the second half, Real Madrid managed to push PSG back into their own box. It was the only stretch where the Parisian side gave up control, though without showing real cracks. Luis Enrique bet on structure and defended with his midfielders stealing at the edge of the box, whilst his center-backs dominated the aerial game. 

Modrić came on to try to build from the base and provide a final pass, whilst Gonçalo Ramos entered as a striker in PSG and generated several chances through runs and diagonals, classic of a pure box striker.

In the final minutes, PSG regained control. Vitinha, once again, dictated tempo from deep, using spins to create space and forcing the opponent’s shifting. Madrid’s late press was expertly handled by the Portuguese duo: Vitinha and Joao Neves imposed their technique, positioning, and body control to break pressure lines. It was admirable how they shielded the ball with their bodies, absorbing pressure without losing control.

Pass Map. Vitinha at the center of it all.

And there was still time for more spectacle. The fourth goal summed up everything PSG had shown: a move worthy of five-a-side football, with too many seconds inside the Madrid box for a team of Luis Enrique’s caliber. Ramos finished the play with a sharp goal after another offensive appearance from Hakimi. A golden ending to a collective masterclass by a PSG side that, at times, looked like it was playing on a different tactical level.

PSG didn’t just win—they completely unmade Real Madrid. They did it with strategy, technique, rational space occupation, defensive aggression, and emotional control. It was a display of what a dominant, shapeshifting, and lethal team could be. Above all, it was a vindication of Luis Enrique’s model, with the perfect players for each phase of the game.

Takeaways

PSG were reaching the peak of their game. That was undeniable. But they also undeniably had to feel grateful for the help they received from Real Madrid, whose off-ball block was extremely poor. Xabi Alonso would have to rack his brain to figure out how to properly fit Mbappé and Vinicius into the same team—or, alternatively, be willing to do without one of them.

It wasn’t just a defensive issue. Madrid desperately needed to establish organic and natural relationships on the pitch, guided by truly differential organizing midfielders. Although the experiment with Güler seemed promising, it was clear that Real Madrid lacked a specialist in the second line of midfield—someone who could connect everyone together.

On the other hand, PSG rightfully earned their place in another final, thanks mainly to their fullbacks and midfielders. Yes, their attackers were brilliant (and Kvaratskhelia’s off-ball work stood out), but the real enablers of it all were, above all, Mendes and Neves. And then came the rest: an excellent positional play system, in which the entire team communicated internally at a high level and constantly generated socio-affective superiorities all over the pitch. A well-deserved finalist.

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