Marquinhos downplays PSG's Club World Cup defeat
Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos feels its FIFA Club World Cup final defeat should not take anything away from a "crazy" season for the Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League winner.
PSG was outclassed by Chelsea in the showpiece match, with Cole Palmer's brace followed up by Joao Pedro's smart finish in a 3-0 victory at MetLife Stadium.
PSG's woes were then compounded late on when Joao Neves was sent off for pulling Chelsea full back Marc Cucurella's hair.
It was a disappointing end to a sensational 2024-2025 for Luis Enrique's team, which won Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the Trophee des Champions and the UEFA Champions League.
Its victory over Real Madrid in the semi-finals was its 48th since the start of the season, surpassing the club's previous best total of 47 victories from the 2015-2016 campaign.
While Marquinhos expressed his frustration at not winning the newly-formatted tournament at the first time of asking, he was proud of the season his team-mates produced.
"The fans are always with us, in good times and bad. We would have liked to win this trophy and bring it back to Paris. We had a golden opportunity," Marquinhos said.
"It's a trophy that comes back every four years, we don't know if we'll have that chance again. I'm sorry, it's a shame for us.
"We didn't succeed, but I don't think it takes anything away from this crazy season we had.
"They were incredible moments. I think the fans are still very proud even if we lost today."
Marquinhos also conceded that Chelsea's tactics worked in the first half and were key to its triumph, with the Blues able to limit PSG's star-studded attack to very few chances.
The Premier League outfit also seemed to target Nuno Mendes on the left side of PSG's defence, which saw Palmer score his two goals from near-identical positions.
PSG's poor start was in stark contrast to its semi-final win over Madrid, when Fabian Ruiz's brace and Ousmane Dembele's strike put it three goals up inside 24 minutes.
"I think they worked well on our little weakness. Tactically, they put us in trouble in the first half, we took time to react," Marquinhos added.
"Chelsea won the physical battle, especially in the first half. They won a lot of duels. We were below what we can do. That's what explains this result.
"It was very difficult in the first half. They were very effective on the chances they had and that changed everything.
"We saw it in the Champions League final. When you're efficient, it changes everything. We had chances, but we didn't manage to score."
