Just fifteen days after finally becoming champions of Europe, Paris Saint-Germain are back in action against Atletico Madrid at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Luis Enrique’s men swept to an eviscerating 5-0 win over Inter Milan in Munich, breaking the record for the biggest margin of victory in a UEFA Champions League final.
Atletico and their boss Diego Simeone knocked Luis Enrique’s Barcelona out of the same competition nine years ago. Plenty has changed since then, but Simeone remains an indefatigable mainstay of the European game and will relish pitting his wits against the freshly crowned kings of the continent.
PSG and Atleti are in Group C of the expanded Club World Cup alongside Copa Libertadores winners Botafogo and MLS franchise Seattle Sounders.
PSG vs. Atletico Madrid lineups, predicted starting 11, team news
Star forward Ousmane Dembele withdrew from the France squad last week after sustaining a knock in their UEFA Nations League semifinal defeat to Spain.
Bradley Barcola has recovered from his own complaint during that camp and is in line to start if Dembele doesn’t make it.
Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos is an alternative option, perhaps one well-suited to the robust proposition of Atletico, but Luis Enrique has had so much success of late playing without a fixed centre-forward over recent months.
PSG predicted XI (4-3-3, right to left):
Donnarumma (GK) – Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes -Neves, Vitinha, Ruiz – Doue, Barcola, Kvaratskhelia
Injured: Doucoure (doubt)
Suspended: None.
Full PSG squad
Goalkeepers:
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Lucas Lavallee, Matvei Safonov, Arnau Tenas
Defenders:
Lucas Beraldo, Naoufel El Hannach, Achraf Hakimi, Lucas Hernandez, Noham Kamara, Presnel Kimpembe, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Willian Pacho, Yoram Zague
Midfielders:
Lee Kang-in, Senny Mayulu, Gabriel Moscardo, Joao Neves Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, Warren Zaire-Emery
Forwards:
Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ibrahim Mbaye, Goncalo Ramos
Simeone appears to have a clean bill of health but must run the rule over his Argentina internationals.
Nahuel Molina, Rodrigo De Paul and Julian Alvarez each started both of La Albiceleste’s recent World Cup qualifiers.
Should Alvarez require a rest, Alexander Sorloth’s rich vein of form for club and country might make that decision easier. Sorloth followed a hat-trick from the bench in Atletico’s concluding La Liga fixture against Girona with a goal in Norway’s stunning 3-0 win over Italy.
Javi Galan is set to start at left-back, a position Simeone seems set on bolstering amid reports linking the capital club to Liverpool mainstay Andy Robertson.
Atletico captain Koke, now 33, is a survivor from the teams that jousted with Luis Enrique’s Barca in the middle of the last decade, as is.
Antoine Griezmann on the other side of his own spell with the Blaugrana.
Atletico Madrid predicted XI (4-4-2, right to left):
Oblak (GK) – Molina, Le Normand, Gimenez, Galan – Simeone, De Paul, Koke, Gallagher
Injured: None.
Suspended: None.
Full Atletico Madrid squad
Goalkeepers:
Salvador Esquivel, Antonio Gomis, Juan Musso, Jan Oblak
Defenders:
Cesar Azpilicueta, Javi Galan, Jose Maria Gimenez, Ilias Kostis, Clement Lenglet, Robin Le Normand, Nahuel Molina, Reinildo, Axel Witsel
Midfielders:
Pablo Barrios, Rayane Belaid, Rodrigo De Paul, Conor Gallagher, Koke, Thomas Lemar, Samuel Lino, Marcos Llorente, Rodrigo Riquelme, Taufik Seidu, Javi Serrano
Forwards:
Julian Alvarez, Angel Correra, Antoine Griezmann, Carlos Martin, Giuliano Simeone, Alexander Sorloth
PSG vs. Atletico Madrid score prediction
As Luis Enrique knows very well, Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid revel in taking well-heeled elites down a peg or two. However, this Atleti is not the best nor most robust of Cholo’s tenure and, even though fatigue might bite PSG eventually at this tournament, expect them to ride through this one on the crest of a wave.
Prediction:
PSG 3-1 Atletico Madrid