PSG best team in the world is no longer just a talking point, it’s a statement backed up by silverware after Paris Saint Germain battled past Flamengo in a bruising final that finished 1-1 before extra time, with goalkeeper Matvei Safonov sealing the moment and writing himself into club folklore.
Luis Enrique’s men, fresh from European glory, were pushed to the limit by the Copa Libertadores champions but found a way, just as elite sides always do. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t perfect, but PSG showed again why they now sit at the very top of world football.
Flamengo arrived with momentum, confidence and nothing to lose. They had already brushed aside Mexico’s Cruz Azul and African champions Pyramids to earn the right to face PSG, and they made it clear early on this wouldn’t be a procession. Tackles flew in, tempers simmered, and the Brazilian side matched PSG stride for stride.
There was drama inside the opening ten minutes when Fabian Ruiz thought he had given PSG the lead. Flamengo keeper Agustin Rossi sliced a clearance horribly and Ruiz hooked the loose ball into an empty net. Celebrations were cut short though, VAR stepping in to rule the ball had narrowly stayed in play. PSG were furious, Flamengo relieved, and the tone was set.
Paris didn’t have to wait long for redemption. Eight minutes before half time, Rossi was at fault again. Desire Doue whipped in a low cross that looked too heavy for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, but the Argentine goalkeeper somehow diverted it straight into the Georgian winger’s path. One touch, one finish, and PSG were finally ahead. It wasn’t classy, but it counted.
Flamengo refused to fold. They kept pressing, kept believing, and got their reward on the hour mark. Marquinhos was adjudged to have clipped Giorgian de Arrascaeta inside the area after another VAR review, and there were few complaints. Up stepped Jorginho, the former Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder, who rolled the penalty home with ice cold confidence as Safonov dived the wrong way.
At 1-1, the game opened up. PSG poured forward, throwing on Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele to stretch tired legs. Dembele was electric without end product, beating his man again and again but lacking that final killer moment. One glorious chance arrived late on when Dembele fizzed a ball across the face of goal, but Marquinhos couldn’t adjust his feet in time and the chance was gone.
Extra time followed and the quality dipped as fatigue set in. Flamengo defended deep, PSG probed patiently. Half chances came and went. Dembele flashed one effort just wide in the 116th minute and sank to his knees, knowing that might of been it. The pressure was intense, the margins tiny.
That was when Matvei Safonov stepped into the spotlight. With first choice keeper Lucas Chevalier still regaining fitness after an ankle injury, Safonov had been drafted in quietly, without fuss. But when the moment came, he delivered. Calm, composed, brave. He made the saves that mattered and spared the blushes of teammates who had wasted opportunities at the other end.
For Luis Enrique, this was another box ticked in a season that keeps redefining PSG’s identity. No longer just a collection of stars, this side works, suffers and wins ugly when needed. Enrique later admitted his team “was not at their best,” but praised their mentality, adding that champions must learn how to survive nights like this.
The wider picture is impossible to ignore. European champions. Now world champions. Following in the footsteps of Real Madrid, PSG have cemented their place among football’s elite. The argument about whether they are the PSG best team in the world grows louder with every trophy added to the cabinet.
Flamengo, despite defeat, leave with their heads high. They matched PSG for long spells, exposed weaknesses, and showed South American football still belongs on the biggest stage. But football is ruthless. PSG had the depth, the nerve and the keeper when it mattered most.
What comes next is just as daunting. Domestic fixtures return quickly, expectations remain sky high, and rivals will circle, desperate to knock PSG off their perch. But for now, Paris stands alone. Tested, stretched, but ultimately victorious.
On nights like this, history remembers only one thing, who lifted the trophy. And once again, it was PSG.
