AFP, Atlanta :
Paris Saint-Germain steamrollered Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami 4-0 to reach the Club World Cup (CWC) quarter-finals on Sunday, where they will face Bayern Munich after they overcame a spirited Flamengo side.
The German giants defeated the Brazilians 4-2 in Sunday’s other last 16 clash with a brace from Harry Kane, after the European champions proved far too strong for Miami’s cast of ageing stars.
Miami hoped Messi’s magic could help them produce an unlikely result against the Argentine star’s former club, but the Major League Soccer side were dismantled by Luis Enrique’s rampant team.
Messi and his former Barcelona team-mates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba had done well to reach the last 16 but the gulf in quality between the teams was laid bare in Atlanta.
Joao Neves netted twice for PSG, who benefited from a Tomas Aviles own goal, while Achraf Hakimi was also on target for the treble-winners.
“Clearly, we are experiencing a historic season for our club, we aim to go far in this competition,” said Luis Enrique.
Messi was the main draw, as fans chanted his name and most of the 66,000 crowd were clad in Miami’s hot pink, interspersed with Argentina shirts.
PSG dominated from the start and took the lead when Neves nodded in unmarked at the back post from a free-kick.
With the Ligue 1 champions pressing high and keeping possession Javier Mascherano’s Miami found it hard to get Messi involved. The 38-year-old’s intermittent interventions were not enough to hold back the Parisian tide.
PSG doubled their lead in the 39th minute when veteran holding midfielder Busquets got his footwork wrong, with Ruiz stealing the ball and combining with Barcola to set up Neves again.
