Neves scores twice and Paris Saint-Germain routs Messi’s Inter Miami 4-0 at Club World Cup

ATLANTA AP Jo o Neves scored a pair of goals for Paris Saint-Germain and the world s best squad overwhelmed one of the championship s greatest players embarrassing Lionel Messi and Inter Miami - in the round of at the Club World Cup on Sunday With Messi facing the crew where he spent two seasons before moving to Major League Soccer in the twilight of his stellar career the European champions swiftly erased the Herons hopes of pulling off a monumental upset before a crowd of at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Neves scored his first goal just six minutes into the match converting a header at the back post off a free kick The Portuguese midfielder added another in the th minute before Inter Miami totally fell apart in the closing stages of the first half surrendering an own-goal and then watching helplessly as Achraf Hakimi tacked on another in stoppage time to send PSG to the locker room with a four-goal cushion It was reminiscent of PSG s historic - rout of Inter Milan a month ago in the Champions League final when the Paris club won its first European title and established itself as the clear favorite heading into the expanded Club World Cup The pink-clad fans tried to stir No with occasional chants of Messi Messi Messi but it did little good The Argentine star spent the bulk of the first half just lingering in the midfield surrounded by PSG players and barely getting a chance to touch the ball Inter Miami s best chance came early in the second half A pass to Luis Su rez sent him clear at the side of the net but the ball slid harmlessly off his foot without a shot The -year-old striker kicked a water bottle over the barrier in frustration summing up the day for the Herons Messi conclusively connected with Inter Miami s first shot on goal in the rd minute but it was easily scooped up by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma Messi had another chance on a header with about minutes remaining forcing Donnarumma to make a diving save in the only real threat to his third shutout of the tournament PSG advanced to a quarterfinal match next Saturday also in Atlanta against Bayern Munich The German club defeated Flamengo of Brazil - Key moment The European powerhouses came into this tournament showing little enthusiasm for the added workload at the end of a grueling season But right from the opening kick PSG played like a group that appears intent on capping its already brilliant campaign with a Club World Cup title Takeaways Even with aging international stars such as Messi and Suarez the MLS club wasn t in the same league with the European champs Facing fierce pressure from PSG Inter Miami struggled solely to get the ball out of its own half PSG held possession in the first half and outshot the Herons - including six attempts on goal They reported it We had a very good meeting We didn t stop We kept playing our event It was a positive day for us Neves The first half was kind of like a bloodbath But I am very proud of my unit and what we have accomplished Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano through an interpreter