Four days after securing their spot in the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over FC Bayern Munich in Atlanta, the Rouge et Bleu headed to New York with a clear objective: to book their place in the final of the competition. But first, they had to find a way past Real Madrid CF. Without Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez (both sent off against the Bavarians and suspended for two matches), Luis Enrique named a starting eleven similar to the one used against the Floridians. The central defence was made up of captain Marquinhos and Lucas Beraldo in front of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes held the flanks, while Vitinha, João Neves and Fabian Ruiz formed a midfield trio. Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia played on the wings and supported Ousmane Dembélé, who marked his return to the starting line-up.
Paris got off to a flying start, cheered on by the 500 supporters who had travelled from Paris and the New York Supporters Club. Kvaratskhelia fired the first warning shot (3'), and attempts from Ruiz (4') and Mendes (5') were miraculously kept out by Courtois. Paris started extremely well. Dembélé stole the ball from Raul Asencio in the box and managed to slip it to Ruiz, who opened the scoring (1-0, 6'). Paris kept pushing and just minutes later, Dembélé put Antonio Rüdiger under pressure, snatched the ball and calmly slotted past Courtois (2-0, 9'). The Parisian waves of attacks kept crashing in on the Madrid goal, and Hakimi’s low shot only narrowly missed the post (20').
Mendes stopped Vinicius Jr (21') and Marquinhos did the same with Kylian Mbappé a minute later (22'). Turning points? Almost certainly, because on the counter-attack, Dembélé once again set things in motion, perfectly sending Hakimi down the right wing. The former Castilla player squared the ball to Ruiz who, up against his fellow countrymen, shook off Valverde’s marking and netted his second of the match and his his third of the tournament (3-0, 24'). Just like at the start of the match, Kvaratskhelia, Mendes and Dembélé came close to widening the gap just before half-time. The Georgian missed the target by inches (40'), the Portuguese blasted a missile that Courtois stopped (45'+2) and the Frenchman slipped the ball under the crossbar, only for the Belgian keeper to deny him at the last second (45'+4).
Although the pace of the match slowed slightly after the break, due in large part to the heat (temperatures reached 90°F (32°C) in New Jersey), Kvaratskhelia (57') and Ramos (72') still managed to create chances, though both missed the target. It was ultimately Ramos who, in front of the 77,542 spectators in East Rutherford, capped off the Rouge et Bleu's masterclass. Hakimi broke down the right wing and switched play to Barcola, who delivered a pass to the Portuguese striker. With his back to goal, the number 9 turned and finished clinically (4-0, 87').
Four days after the historic win over Bayern, Luis Enrique and his side came out on top against another European giant and in doing so, secured their ticket for the final of the competition. The clash will take place on Sunday 13 July at 21:00 (in France, 15:00 in New Jersey) between the club from the capital and Chelsea FC, once again at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
