The winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or has been decided after irresistible Paris Saint-Germain exposed Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappe at the Club World Cup…
The forced pomp and ceremony surrounding the Club World Cup has failed to polish the expensive turd, with the shoehorned (and inevitably overpaid) celebrities and ex-footballers, unsurprisingly, not giving this glorified pre-season friendly tournament the legitamacy craved by FIFA and its investors.
Still, if there is one positive from this summer’s needless tournament, it’s that it has allowed us, after their supreme Champions League exploits, to watch in awe at this incredible PSG side a few more times before they have a well-earned rest.
PSG have been in a league of their own in 2024/25 and this has continued at the Club World Cup, with wins over Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter Miami earned en route to Wednesday’s semi-final against Real Madrid.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, are in a transition process amid a rare trophyless campaign and their struggle to find the right balance with their best XI following Kylian Mbappe’s arrival from PSG.
A season of such disappointment was always going to lead to wholesale changes, with Carlo Ancelotti ushered towards an exit and replaced by Xabi Alonso.
And on the evidence of this semi-final, Alonso has an almighty job on his hands with this model of Real Madrid a far cry from Ancelotti’s serial Champions League winners.
The Club World Cup inspired Real Madrid to force early summer signings through for Alonso, including Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen.
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Each newcomer started Real Madrid’s opening five Club World Cup games, but Alexander-Arnold (injury) and Huijsen (suspension) missed the PSG clash.
Alexander-Arnold had a sh*t debut before he made astrong impact in a later game, but his presence ahead of fill-in Federico Valverde would have likely made no difference against PSG, as the huge weakness in his game would have been equally exposed by PSG’s forwards.
Huijsen, however, would have boosted Real Madrid, as his absence meant Alonso had to reinstate out-of-form Raul Asencio back into the starting XI after his laughable red card against Pachuca in the group stages.
Asensio was dismissed after seven minutes against Pachuca, and it took almost the exact amount of time for him to produce an almighty cock-up against PSG.
Luis Enrique’s side forced Thibaut Courtois into two great early saves in a frantic start as calm heads were required to ride out a treacherous spell.
So it boggles the mind that when Asensio collected the ball in his penalty area in the sixth minute, he proceeded to dilly-dally in possession before missing Ousmane Dembele with a wild sliding challenge as he was dispossessed.
Courtois could not cover for his teammate’s terrible error as he brought down Dembele and would have conceded a penalty had Fabian Ruiz not been there to tap the ball into an empty net.
It was a nightmare start for Real Madrid, but it got worse almost instantly as Antonio Rudiger arguably produced a mistake even worse than Asensio’s.
Rudiger has elite-level performances in his locker and has been credited for taming Erling Haaland, but he is equally prone to a moment of madness and got punished for a careless mis-kick, which Dembele pounced upon to sprint away and coolly finish past a helpless Courtois to double PSG’s lead.
It was superb from PSG, who were cold-heartedly clinical when given a whiff at goal to punish their opponents’ silliness. But Real Madrid made it oh so easy as they all but lost the game in the first ten minutes.
As mentioned, Real Madrid find themselves in a transition phase and given the gulf in class between them and PSG, this is going to be a long road. And this needs to start with Alonso offloading Asensio and Rudiger for Huijsen and another new centre-back, potentially Liverpool star Ibrahima Konate.
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If the semi-final wasn’t quite settled in the opening ten minutes, it was once PSG made it 3-0 before the half-hour mark.
Unlike the first two goals, PSG’s third did not come via a mistake from a Real Madrid player, but did expose their wider defensive frailties as backtracking players were nowhere to be seen as the Spanish giants were torn apart at will.
A simple one-two involving Achraf Hakimi and Desire Doue set up a three-on-two situation, with Ruiz having the time to take a touch inside the penalty area before converting past Courtois.
This was unforgivable from Real Madrid’s perspective, and PSG, to the shock of no one, remained in firm control in the second half and toyed with their rivals when adding a fourth via Goncalo Ramos to make it an embarrassing scoreline for Alonso’s side in their biggest defeat of the season.
It’s hard to imagine that fellow finalists Chelsea relishing the prospect of facing this PSG side on Sunday, but the outcome doesn’t really matter because whatever happens, each side will be laughing their way to the bank with their eye-watering prize money.
And while PSG’s demolition of Real Madrid only further highlights the differing states of each club, it should also settle the Ballon d’Or debate asthis year’s crown should already have firm favourite Dembele’s name on it.
The events of the Club World Cup shouldn’t have too much of an impact on the voting (if at all), but it’s been tough to shake off the feeling that FIFA would have lobbied for Mbappe had Real Madrid won the tournament.
But any remaining pleas for Mbappe would lack legitimacy, with Dembele the clear standout of the two Ballon d’Or contenders on Wednesday night.
While Dembele is the best player in a sensational team, as one of many selfless but vital cogs, Mbappe was left exposed as Real Madrid’s woes meant he felt he had to carry the load himself.
This made for a satisfying full circle moment, with the egotistical so-called Galactico remaining a one-man band, while his former club have rapidly become a complete team in his absence.