Paris Saint-Germain beat Villarreal 6-0 in Spain on Tuesday night, and the game was over before the first 20 minutes were up. Fabián Ruiz scored twice as the holders scored four goals in the first 17 minutes, the fastest any team has got to four in a Champions League game.
The win keeps PSG perfect after four games of the league phase. They have 12 points and sit top of the table.
Four goals in eight minutes
João Neves opened the scoring in the ninth minute, reacting first to a loose ball in the box after a corner.
Then Villarreal fell apart. Goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi made a mistake three minutes later, Maghnes Akliouche pounced, and Désiré Doué fired in to make it 2-0. A minute after that, Senny Mayulu scored the third after a Neves shot was blocked.
In the 17th minute Fabián Ruiz followed up after Achraf Hakimi’s effort and made it 4-0. The home side kept losing the ball close to their own goal, and PSG took almost every chance.
Ruiz and a teenager finish the job
PSG did not ease off after the break. Ruiz got his second goal in the 50th minute, taking a pass from Vitinha and finishing past Gulácsi.
The sixth came in the 78th minute. Teenage substitute David Boly ran onto a pass from Neves and scored his first Champions League goal from a tight angle. Neves ended the night with a goal and two assists.
A hard night for Villarreal
For the Spanish side, it was a painful evening at the Estadio de la Cerámica. They were 4-0 down after 17 minutes and never got a foothold in the game.
Villarreal had already lost 4-3 at Liverpool on matchday 3. They now need to pick themselves up quickly to stay in the race for the knockout rounds.
Our take
PSG play like a team that knows exactly what it wants. They win the ball back high up the pitch and punish mistakes. Villarreal made far too many of them.
Ruiz does not always get the headlines in this team, but he was the best player on the pitch. If PSG keep this level, it is hard to see who can take their title away.
Can anyone stop this PSG side in the Champions League? Tell us in the comments.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Fabián Ruiz by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0, two photos); Désiré Doué by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0); Estadio de la Cerámica (then El Madrigal) by Emilio Leiras (CC BY 2.0).
