EAST RUTHERFORD: Chelsea must somehow try to stop an irresistible Paris St 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 Sunday.

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 quarterfinals.

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 marathon 2024/25 season and add the world title to their French and European crowns.

`We want to finish this historic season in the best possible way, Luis Enrique told reporters on Friday at New Jersey`s MetLife Stadium. `Now we must open the next chapter, win more major trophies. We want to make more history by winning on Sunday.

`But we have to win this game to round things off. However, in a final there is always a winner and a loser, and that doesn`t mean the loser has necessarily done anything wrong. We will lose again at some point, because that is what happens in top-level football, but I think the path is clear for everyone.

Luis Enrique has overseen a significant transformation at PSG, replacing departing stars Neymar, Lionel Messi, and Mbappe with a dynamic, youthful squad that embodies his total football philosophy.The Spaniard downplayed suggestions that he is the teams central figure, instead crediting the players` shared commitment to a common goal.

`I`m not a star... I like the work I do. I enjoy my career, especially during difficult times,` Luis Enrique said. `When things aren`t going well, I feel better. It`s nice when everything works out because the best thing about winning is making the people who follow us happy. I`ve been much better when I`ve been criticised than when I`ve been praised.

PSG are therefore overwhelming favourites for the game which willbe played at the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop and which is set to be attended by Donald Trump.

This is the first edition of the 32-team Club World Cup, and whoever wins on Sunday will be world champions for four years, with the next tournament sched-uled to take place in 2029.

`We are aware of the importance of this match, that it is a golden opportunity to be in a World Cup final,` said PSG captain Marquinhos. `This only happens everyfouryears, andwe don`tknow where we willbe in four years.

Chelsea have plenty of reason to believe too, with Sunday`s game finally wrapping up a campaign in which they won the UEFA Conference League and also finished fourth in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League.

While PSG lost to Botafogo during the group stage, Chelsea were also beaten by Brazilian opposition in Flamengo.

However, they have gone on to defeat Benfica as well as two other Brazilian teams, Pahneiras and Fluminense, to reach the final.

PSG`s record against English opposition in 2025 shows the size of task facing Chelsea the French club faced four PremierLeague teams in the Champions League and beat them all, from Manchester City and Liverpool, to Aston Villa and then Arsenal.

Speaking to reporters on Friday at the MetLife Stadium, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca emphasised the tactical nature of the showdown, likening it to a game of chess.

`I really love chess and I see many similarities between chess and football,` Maresca said. `At a tactical level, I don`t believe in chess moves during matches but the manager must react when another manager reacts. Of course, this will be a tough chess match against Luis Enrique but we will try to enjoy it, for sure.

Maresca, who has guided Chelsea into the final with a mix of defensive solidity and attacking flair, was full of admiration for his opposite number.

`For sure, PSG and their manager, Luis Enrique, are a reference not only for me but for manypeople who love football. I believe they have an incredible team, and their coach is, along with Pep Guardiola, the best in the world right now,` he said. `This is a team composed of incredible players. It will be a difficult and great challenge but we have our style. We`ve shown the way we want to do things.

The match brings down the curtain on a month-long competition that FIFA is already hailing as a huge success.

But concerns over the heat of an American summer have plagued the tournament, with Chelsea`s Enzo Fernandez saying Friday that playing in the middle of the afternoon was `very dangerous` Sunday`s game will kick off at 3:00 pm local time (1900 GMT).

Soaring temperatures in several cities hosting the Club World Cup have been a focal point in the tournament, which is seen as a dry run for next year`s men`s World Cup.

`Honestly, the heat is incredible. The other day I had to lie down on the ground because Iwas really dizzy,` Fernandez, the the 2022 World Cupwinner with Argentina, told reporters on Friday.

`Playing in this temperature is very dangerous, it`s very dangerous. Moreover, for the spectacle, for the people who come to enjoy the stadium, for the people who watch it at home. The game, the spee d of the game is not the same, everything becomes very slow.

`Well, let`s hope that next year they change the schedule, at least so that it remains a beautiful and attractivefootballspectacle,right?` Whatever happens in the final, the tournament has already been a huge success for the participants from a financial viewpoint.

Chelsea and PSG are assured to go home with over $100 million in prize money, with the definitive amount to become clear after the final that money will be particularly welcome for Chelsea after they were recently fined by UEFA for breaching financial rules.-Agencies