Chelsea are a proper team and Premier League champions in waiting after winning the Club World Cup, while Cole Palmer has entered the Ballon d’Or chat…
Once the overly Americanised and needlessly drawn out pre-match b*llocks was finally over, the actual show started as Conference League winners (and heavy underdogs) Chelsea faced the seemingly insurmountable task of taming Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final.
After PSG dispatched Real Madrid with ease in their semi-final, it felt a formality that they would be crowned this year’s Club World Cup champions, but Chelsea made an almighty statement to become the latest giant killers in the season of the underdog.
While Real Madrid afforded PSG the freedom to ruthlessly express their brilliance, Chelsea refused to roll out the same red carpet as they brought it to Luis Enrique’s side from the opening whistle to rattle the tournament favourites.
The Blues immediately unsettled PSG with their positive intent and frantic pressing as the Ligue Un giants could not get a foothold of the match, while the seemingly inferior Premier League side utterly dominated and were in dreamland when they took the lead after 21 minutes.
Cole Palmer almost finished a great move to give Chelsea the lead inside the opening ten minutes as he shot agonisingly wide, but lightning did not strike twice as he netted at the second attempt.
Chelsea’s game plan was clear as they made the bold move to target Nuno Mendes, who had previously been rightly lauded amid his emergence as one of, if not the best, left-back in the world.
But the marauding left-back drifts into the No.10 position when PSG are in possession, so Chelsea targeted his zone as there was often clear space to penetrate.
READ: Chelsea need Club World Cup glory as first of five steps to win the 2025/26 Premier League title
For Chelsea’s opener, Mendes made a rare mistake as was second best in an aerial duel with Malo Gusto, who advanced and had a shot blocked before laying the ball back to Palmer and the England international’s heartrate didn’t raise a single digit as he cooly took a touch and passed the ball into the corner to score in now-trademark fashion.
This was replicated only eight minutes later as Palmer scored his and his side’s second, with the build-up even more sublime than the near-exact replica of his first precise finish.
Again, Chelsea had success from the right flank as Palmer collected the ball with Mendes absent, while his exquisite shimmy took Marquinhos out of the game and floored fellow centre-back Lucas Beraldo before the Blues sensation rolled the ball into the bottom corner.
It was a thing of beauty and while Ousmane Dembele should/will win this year’s Ballon d’Or, he and the rest of the players were upstaged by Palmer’s brilliance and if this showing is anything to go by, he’ll be in the conversation for the PSG star’s best footballer in the world trophy in 2026.
He also laid on an assist before the break as Chelsea remarkably earned a 3-0 lead at half-time, as his perfectly timed through ball fed summer signing Joao Pedro, who also showed no nerves with his sublime dinked finish over Donnarumma.
Palmer was the game’s clear standout, but Pedro also deserves his flowers; his goal was a warranted reward after he caused chaos with his movement. He already looks a snip at £60m, so Liam Delap and Eddie Howe will be rueing Chelsea beating Newcastle United to the punch.
A 3-0 advantage at half-time was all that the Blues deserved as PSG, who had won their past five knockout matches to an aggregate score of 18-0, were suddenly made to look ordinary as Maresca’s side passed their latest acid test with flying colours.
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Another recent test of the mettle came on the final day of the 24/25 Premier League season, as Chelsea produced a perfect away performance in an intimidating backdrop to seal Champions League qualification by beating Nottingham Forest.
Then, Chelsea proved they have the necessary backbone and team ethic to grind out a win the hard way, which is a required quality for a team to win the big prizes.
Now, Chelsea has shown that they can not only mix it with Europe’s best but also dismantle them via a team performance of utmost quality.
After previously struggling to brush off the “billion-pound bottle jobs” tag, Maresca’s Chelsea have proven in recent months that they are well on track to realise their potential and look the real deal.
Having addressed the weak striker area with Pedro and Delap, Chelsea still have a couple of boxes to tick this summer at goalkeeper and centre-back, though Robert Sanchez’s inspired display vs PSG and the newfound solid partnership of Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah alleviate these fears for now.
The point is, Chelsea have emphatically righted the wrong of the 2024 Carabao Cup final in a coming-of-age performance against PSG, which provides an ominous warning to Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal amid the emergence of a serious contender for next season’s Premier League title and beyond.
