PSG and Chelsea set for Club World Cup final showdown
It is the kind of glamour match-up that FIFA president Gianni Infantino would have been hoping for to wrap up the tournament, which on Saturday he labelled as marking the start of "the golden era of club football."
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca acknowledged ahead of the game that PSG are "probably in this moment the best team in the world", and the French side are hoping to cap off the most remarkable of seasons by completing a stunning clean sweep of trophies.
PSG won a French league and cup double before claiming the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history with a record-breaking 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in the final at the end of May.
Luis Enrique's side have carried that form over into the Club World Cup, putting four goals past Atletico Madrid in the group stage and four more past Lionel Messi's Inter Miami before defeating Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.
They then produced a masterclass in a 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
"It has been a fantastic season and for us it is very important that we end it in the best possible manner," Luis Enrique said as he spoke to reporters on Friday.
It would be a shock if Chelsea claimed the trophy against a PSG side led by Ballon d'Or candidate Ousmane Dembele.
However, the Stamford Bridge side came to the United States fresh from finishing fourth in the Premier League and winning the UEFA Conference League.
"They are one of the hottest teams in the world at the moment but this is the final, a one-off game," said Chelsea's Reece James.
"Everyone has them down as strong favourites but I have been in many finals before where we have been favourites and we have not come out on top.
"That doesn't mean too much to me and I don't really care that everyone is bigging up the opposition."
Chelsea were hoping that midfield lynchpin Moises Caicedo would recover in time from a twisted ankle picked up in the semi-final victory over Fluminense on Tuesday.
The match will be played at the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop. The home of NFL sides the New York Giants and New York Jets will also be the venue for the 2026 World Cup final.
It goes ahead at 3:00 pm local time (1900 GMT) amid ongoing concerns about the impact of high temperatures during the tournament, with Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez warning on Friday that playing in the middle of the afternoon was "very dangerous."
There are also concerns about the long-term impact on players of the match calendar — the final will be the 65th game for PSG since their season began last August, and the 64th for Chelsea.
However, the financial rewards for all teams involved at the Club World Cup are enormous, and especially for the finalists.
Chelsea and PSG are assured to go home with over $100 million in prize money, with the definitive amount to become clear after the final — that money will be particularly welcome for Chelsea after they were recently fined by UEFA for breaching financial rules.
Infantino, meanwhile, was in buoyant mood as he spoke to media at Trump Tower in New York City yesterday (July 12).
"We created something new, something which is here to stay, something which is changing the landscape of club football," he said of the 32-team tournament, the next edition of which is set to take place in 2029.
"It is already the most successful club competition in the world." — AFP
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