PSG 3-0 Defeat To Chelsea, Three Reasons Why They Lost To Chelsea

At the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Sunday evening, Chelsea were crowned Champions of the FIFA Club World Cup for the second time following a shocking 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG headed into its final Club World Final as clear favorites after effortlessly dispatching Inter Milan in the final of the UEFA Champions League and defending Champions of the Club World Cup, Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-final, Many expected Chelsea to suffer an equal if not more damning fate.

Instead, a first-half brace from Player of the tournament, Cole Palmer and new signing Joao Pedro ensured PSG leave America without the trophy and the much-talked-about ‘History’ often postulated by manager Luis Enrique.

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Luis Enrique, the Protagonist of PSG’s dominance could offer little explanation in the aftermath of the devastating loss to Chelsea, he did insinuate his side faced difficulty in dealing with the pressure from Chelsea with a somewhat helpless submission that ‘football is difficult to explain’ sometimes.

Those words reflect a man with no explanation for the ‘Tsunami defeat’ he suffered as his team struggled to contain Cole Palmer and Co while failing to exert its usual dominance on opposition as witnessed all through the tournament. While the Spaniard continued to grapple with tangible reasons for the Chelsea defeat few hours after the defeat, we examine reasons why PSG lost the final.

Chelsea Manager Maresca’s Tactical Masterclass

Chelsea fans often criticize Enzo Maresca’s tactical decision to play Reece James in midfield instead of the usual Right Back role but few if any would have complained given the English Man’s role in the final, asides from having the extra defensive man in the midfield, Reece James role stemmed from limiting the influence of the PSG intricate passes between the midfielders while constantly reading and preventing the passes mostly to the wide attackers of PSG.

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Reece James presence in midfield also aided Maresca game plan of kicking the ball long to Malo Gusto while evading the expected press from PSG, the long kicks from goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez left PSG left back Nuno Mendes in one v one scenarios leading to goal and goal threat.

Only Austrian side Salzburg presented a younger squad than Chelsea which meant as a young team they had more energy on the pitch and as Enrique confessed, his PSG side used to playing out from the back could not contend with the constant press from the Young Chelsea team full of energy.

Enzo Maresca post match, revealed that his Youthful Chelsea team needed to go man to man, press intensely and never give PSG time on the ball and do it for 90 minutes as the only way to win the game.

Lack of Early Goal

At the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, PSG scored 10 goals alone in the first half, against Real Madrid in the semi final the game was over by the 24th minute, against Inter Milan, PSG were 2-0 up by the 24th minute as they ran out 5-0 winners.

This has been the strategy of PSG, the customary kickoff that gives the ball back to the opponent and enables PSG to set the press, the quick start enables them to settle and gain control of proceedings. Chelsea though were ready, well equipped to cope with what PSG threw at it and so the moment Chelsea took the lead, PSG looked dazed and for the first time out of sorts with no response.

It looked all too familiar as witnessed in the 2-0 loss to Arsenal in the Champions league, League phase and the 1-0 loss to Botafogo in the group stage of the Club World Cup also.

Over Confidence By PSG

Let us admit, PSG had every right to head into the match believing they would win given the quality of football played and the manner of victory over more illustrious sides compared to Chelsea. No wonder manager Luis Enrique could offer little explanation for the defeat.

Chelsea on the other hand played with no pressure as everyone had written them off, football dished a painful lesson to players and management of PSG on Sunday reminding them that nothing is ever as it seems until you step onto the pitch and complete the job

Babajide Oluwaseun

Babajide is a broadcast Journalist with over 10 years experience on radio in Nigeria. He is addicted to the English Premier league analysing tactics and team formation and when he is done, he is on his pad writing his next piece on football.

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