Favourites Don't Always Win: Chelsea

Blues have 'maximum respect' for PSG, who admit their rivals 'are a very complete team'

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EAST RUTHERFORD - Chelsea must somehow try to stop an irresistible Paris Saint-Germain side from adding the Club World Cup trophy to their Uefa Champions League title, as the final of the first edition of Fifa's expanded competition takes place on July 13.

PSG travelled to the United States fresh from becoming European champions with a stunning 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in Munich in late May, and they have lived up to their favourites tag at the Club World Cup.

Luis Enrique's side put four goals past Atletico Madrid in the group stage, four more past Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in the last 16, and then proved too strong for Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.

They appeared to hit new heights as they tore apart Kylian Mbappe's Real Madrid in the last four, when their 4-0 winning margin could have been far greater.

The Parisians now stand on the verge of an extraordinary achievement, as they look to complete a clean sweep of trophies in this 2024-25 season and add the world club title to their French Ligue 1, Cup and European crowns.

But Enrique refused to accept that PSG are necessarily overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy at the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.