Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) defeated Inter Miami 4-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. They will now clash against Bayern Munich.
The German giants defeated the Brazilians 4-2 in Sunday`s other last 16 clash with a brace from Harry Kane, after the European champions proved far too strong for Miami`s cast of ageing stars.
Miami hoped Messi`s magic could help them produce an unlikely result against the Argentine star`s former club, but the Major League Soccer side was dismantled by Luis Enrique`s rampant team.
Lionel Messi and his former Barcelona teammates, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba had done well to reach the last round of 16, but the gulf in quality between the teams was laid bare in Atlanta.
Joao Neves scored two goals for PSG, who benefited from a Tomas Aviles own goal, while Achraf Hakimi was also on target for the treble-winners.
Messi was at the centre stage during the match, and fans continued to chant his name and most of the 66,000 crowd were dressed in Inter Miami`s pink jersey, interspersed with Argentina shirts.
PSG dominated from the start and took the lead when Neves nodded in unmarked at the back post from a free-kick. With the Ligue 1 champions pressing high and keeping possession, Javier Mascherano`s Miami found it hard to get Messi involved. The 38-year-old`s intermittent interventions were not enough to hold back the Parisian tide. PSG doubled their lead in the 39th minute when veteran holding midfielder Busquets got his footwork wrong, with Ruiz stealing the ball and combining with Barcola to set up Neves again.
When Suarez was fouled on the edge of the box, Lionel Messi had the chance to repeat his free-kick winner against Porto in the group stage, but his effort hit the wall. Luis Enrique sent on winger Ousmane Dembele for his first appearance at the tournament after a hamstring injury, but the Frenchman looked rusty and PSG could not expand their advantage. Miami`s second-half performance was respectable, and the defeat was by a lesser margin than the French side`s 5-0 Champions League final thrashing of Inter Milan.
Erick Pulgar headed Joshua Kimmich`s corner into his own net, and then Kane`s deflected drive flew into the bottom corner as Bayern took a two-goal lead. The three-time Copa Libertadores champions battled back in as Gerson smashed a shot past Manuel Neuer to delight most of the 61,000 crowd. Leon Goretzka restored Bayern`s lead, but former Chelsea midfielder Jorginho pegged them back once more from the penalty spot.
(With AFP Inputs)
