PSG – Atletico Madrid

PSG shouldn’t be considered a clear favourite

On Sunday, 15 July, PSG will play against Atletico in the Club World Cup. It looks like it will be very hard for the Parisians to tune up for the tournament. Luis Enrique's club have already won all the tournaments in which they took part: they made the quadruple, taking three trophies in France and the Champions League. Atletico, on the other hand, have no problems with motivation. The team is without a single trophy at all and the format of the Club World Cup suits Atletico well. PSG will have a hard time recovering from the club season. There is also another problem - global national team occupation. Still, France played in the League of Nations. It is not excluded that Luis Enrique will use reserves at all at the group stage. The team has a large roster of performers. With the second squad the club is able to reach the play-offs, and then the main players will be involved. Especially now PSG does not have a large number of injuries. Almost everyone is ready to go on the field. Atletico's situation is different. After all, the Spanish championship has become a formality for the club since about March. Diego Simeone's wards secured third place and played the season without much motivation. Atletico, meanwhile, finished the championship having added to their attack. The link-up of Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann put up very decent numbers. The prized rookie ended up racking up 21 assists. Julian has scored 17 goals in La Liga, a very solid figure for his first season, even more so in Diego Simeone's system. Antoine Griezmann did more modestly, but 15 assists is not a failure for the star. Atletico ended the season without a lot of injuries. Only veteran Saul was absent. Atletico now more often uses a 4-4-2, which in the course of a match can be transformed into a more attacking 4-2-4 with reactive flanks. Simeone's squad is very deep. There are at least twenty decent players. Interestingly, Atletico and PSG met each other in the Champions League. In the group stage, the Spaniards won 2-1 in Paris in classic Simeone style, catching a chance in the end. Bookmakers lead PSG as clear favourites, but there are enough nuances. It is unlikely that the club will keep such a perfect game for the World Cup. The players have a surfeit from the hardest season. All the more so, many were involved in frontline roles and national teams. Atletico, on the other hand, are hungry for titles and Simeone is very serious after failures in other tournaments. To beat the Champions League winner is a real motivation for the underdog.