Fabián Ruiz scored twice as PSG took apart Villarreal 6-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday night. The four goals the French champions put past the home side inside 17 minutes stand as the fastest a team has reached four in the competition’s history.
João Neves opened in the ninth minute, Désiré Doué added a second three minutes later, and Senny Mayulu made it three in the 13th. Ruiz drove home the fourth in the 16th from a Maghnes Akliouche pass, the burst clocked by UEFA at 16 minutes and 2 seconds.
Ruiz returned for his second in the 50th minute, with a crisp first touch and finish from a Vitinha pass. Substitute David Boly, a 17-year-old on his Champions League debut, chipped in the sixth in the 78th after being sent through by Neves.
Luis Enrique: “really pleased”
The PSG coach, Luis Enrique, said the opening had taken him by surprise too.
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“I obviously wasn’t expecting that but you get matches where you start in that way,” he told reporters after the match. “We were impressive throughout and we are really pleased even if it is very difficult for Villarreal, but it is hard when you play against a team like us that presses constantly.”
Paris did it without Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé, captain Marquinhos and Nuno Mendes, all absent through injury. It was the champions’ tenth consecutive win in all competitions, and their 14-match unbeaten run in Europe equalled the longest streak set by a French club.
Villarreal left to pick up the pieces
Iñigo Pérez, who took charge at Villarreal in the summer on a three-year deal, admitted his players had set up for the wrong contest. Speaking to Yahoo Sports, he said his side had got their idea of how to play PSG wrong, and that they had the wrong mindset after conceding.
The scale of the defeat was the heaviest home European loss a Spanish team has ever suffered in the Champions League. Villarreal, who had already lost three of their opening four league phase matches before kick-off, remain stuck near the bottom of the 36-team table on three points.
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Top eight on the line
PSG top the league phase on 12 points with a +15 goal difference after four matchdays, level on points with Real Madrid but top on goal difference. The eight best league phase finishers go through directly to the round of 16; teams finishing between ninth and 24th drop into a two-legged play-off round.
Villarreal sit 28th, inside the elimination zone and six points shy of a play-off place with four matchdays left.
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