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PSG’s Luis Enrique Prepares For Chelsea In Club World Cup Final

PSG cruised past Real Madrid in the semi-final and will be high on confidence ahead of the final

Luis Enrique said that Paris Saint-Germain want to ‘make history’ as they prepare to face Chelsea in the Club World Cup final.

The Parisians booked their final ticket after romping to a 4-0 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday. Fabian Ruiz’s brace was complemented by goals from Ousmane Dembele and Goncalo Ramos as Los Blancos exited the competition with a whimper, suffering their heaviest loss of the 2024/25 season.

The performance will not have inspired much confidence in the Chelsea camp. The Blues will have their work cut out for them as they look to prevent the French and European champions from hoisting their fifth title of the season.

Speaking at full-time, Enrique admitted it would not be an easy outing.

“We are going to try,” he said. “One more step against a good team like Chelsea.

“They perform the whole competition and now it is time for us to prepare, try to recover.

“[We are] almost there. We want to make history in our club and then take our holidays.”

While Enrique cut a humble figure as he spoke pitchside post-match, he has every right to be confident ahead of the final. PSG were dominant in their semi-final win, where they led 3-0 after just 24 minutes. Les Bleus will be on top form and in good spirits ahead of the final.

Asked to sum up the match in one word, Enrique said: “I think great.

“It is always difficult to play these kinds of matches against Real Madrid. We started the game very good. We are happy with the performance.”

As the temperature remained over 30° for much of the tie, recovery will prove key in the four-day turnaround ahead of the final.

Enrique continued: “It is too much heat for me. We are in a special season, special moment, I think we deserve to win.”

Ousmane Dembele, making his first start of the summer after shaking off an injury, scored PSG’s second of the afternoon. Enrique felt that was a turning point.

“It is the first match in this World Cup that we can use Ousmane as a normal player,” he explained. “We try to take care of him. I think he is our best player of the season by a long way. He deserves to win everything. He gave everything to the team.”

Standard.co.uk

Lucky Maurice

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