FIFA Club World Cup: PSG thrash Atletico Madrid

PASADENA: European Champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) kicked off their first-ever FIFA Club World Cup campaign with a thumping 4-0 victory over Atletico Madrid here at Rose Bowl Stadium on Sunday. 

Fabian Ruiz opened the scoring for PSG in the 19th minute with a low strike into the bottom corner.

Vitinha doubled the advantage by drilling a strike through the middle of the Spanish club’s defence just before half-time.

Julian Alvarez had a goal for Atletico which was disallowed for a foul by Koke on Desire Doue in the build-up.

Senny Mayulu added a third in the 87th minute before Lee Kang-in scored on a penalty in injury time. 

PSB have outscored their opponents 12-0 in their past three encounters, including a 5-0 romp over Inter Milan in the Champions League final.

Parisiens’ coach Luis Enrique praised his team's effort after the match.

"Every single player has been developing and showing to the team their best quality. As a coach I'm very happy," Enrique said.

Vitinha, who was awarded Man of the Match, said it is always a group effort.

"As always I am going to talk about the team. It was a very good game and it's difficult with this temperature, but we did well against a very good team. Everybody knows Atletico is a tough team, an aggressive team, but we did very well,” Vitinha said.

"We managed to control all of the game. We could have scored more, but we are happy with the result," he added.

PSG will be back at the Rose Bowl on Thursday evening to face Botafogo.