A rematch of the Club World Cup Final lived up to the billing as three late goals from PSG gave them a 5-2 win over Chelsea, alongside a huge advantage heading into the second leg.
This seven-goal thriller had everything from incredible finishes, mistakes at the back, blistering counterattacks, and so much more.
PSG had come into the match on a bit of a rocky run of form.
They had recently lost to AS Monaco in Ligue 1 and struggled to get by their fellow French side over two legs in the Champions League knockout playoffs, despite Monaco getting a red card in both legs.
Chelsea, on the other hand, have been in good form under Liam Rosenior, but maybe havent got the results they deserve.
This match was definitely one of those scenarios because, as we will discuss in this tactical analysis, PSG were incredibly fortunate to find the back of the net five times, and you could argue that Chelsea may have been the better side.
With that being said, it was a very interesting tactical battle between Luis Enrique and Rosenior.
In this analysis, we examine the effectiveness and weaknesses of PSG’s pressing, PSG’s ruthless finishing, and Chelseas success in quick transitions.
PSG Vs Chelsea Lineups & Formations
Luis Enrique lined his team up in their usual 4-3-3 formation.
Matvey Safonov started in net behind the centre-back pairing of Marquinhos and Willian Pacho.
Nuno Mendes started at left-back, while Achraf Hakimi started once again at right-back.
Warren Zaïre-Emery, Vitinha, and João Neves started together as the three midfielders.
Désiré Doué started at right wing, while Bradley Barcola started at left wing.
Ballon dOr winner Ousmane Dembélé started up top.
Luis Enrique made four substitutions in the match.
In the 62nd minute, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia came on for Doué.
In the 69th minute, Lee Kang-In came on for Dembélé.
In the 78th minute, Senny Mayulu came on for Barcola, and Lucas Hernández came on for Zaïre-Emery.
Liam Rosenior lined Chelsea up in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Filip Jørgensen lined up in goal behind Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana as the centre-back pairing.
Marc Cucurella started at left-back, while Malo Gusto started at right-back.
Reece James and Moisés Caicedo started as the two defensive midfielders.
Pedro Neto started at left wing, Enzo Fernández started as the ‘10’, while Cole Palmer started at right wing.
João Pedro started once again up top for the Blues.
Liam Rosenior made three substitutions in the match.
In the 83rd minute, Liam Delap came on for Pedr,o and Roméo Lavia came on for Palmer.
In the 88th minute, Alejandro Garnacho came on for Gusto.
Screenshot 2026 03 12 at 8.39.27 PM
PSG High Press
The big story coming out of this match wasn’t that PSG completely ran over and got their revenge on Chelsea from the Club World Cup Final.
To me, it was more the mistakes Chelsea made at the back that ended up costing them the match.
Chelsea really
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