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Ghostbusters! Paris Saint-Germain lay demons to rest en-route to FIFA Club World Cup Final
The full-time whistle goes, and Marquinhos stands still on the turf. The Paris Saint-Germain star's gaze is somewhere in the distance, drawn to one end of Lisbon's Estádio da Luz.
The Brazilian appears to be in a form of blue-screen shock, the magnitude of his missed chance minutes earlier slowly sinking into his bones, a moment that will stay with him.
Around him, his team-mates slump to the ground in agony, their opponents caught in wild celebrations amid this facsimile of a final, played out in front of an empty ground.
Now, the full-time whistle goes again, and Marquinhos stands still on the turf. His gaze is somewhere in the distance, drawn to one end of East Rutherford's MetLife Stadium.
This time, there is no shock. The veteran defender is soaking in the moment - success in front of a 77,000-plus crowd, a place in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Final secured.
Around him, his team-mates clap hands and roar for joy. Their names are chanted by a sea of blue and white - supporters from both sides of the divide united in admiration.
Five years on from heartbreak in Portugal, Marquinhos is the link that bridges that past of PSG's superstar era to the present of a young generation writing their name in history.
Here, half the world away, closer to the banks of the Hudson rather than the Seine, the veteran has helped oversee a transformation to finally realise their on-field potential.
There has been plenty of pain for the journey, no-shows and near-misses, misfired moments and less-than-fond farewells. This is a club with brutal, partisan loyalties to itself.
But more so than even the triumph of a historic continental double, this tournament has been a display of a side unafraid to sweep aside history in pursuit of a brighter future.
Across six games, PSG have not only established themselves as arguably the best club in world football right now - they have thrown off the shackles of the past for good too.
This long-awaited realisation can be traced back half a decade to that strange night in Lisbon, where they contested the UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich.
The COVID-19 pandemic had ravaged the globe. European football had limped to the finish line, and under strict protocols, its top-tier competition was shuttled through at speed.
A slew of sudden-death quarter-finals had yielded upsets aplenty; Lyon's shock-and-awe win over Manchester City, Bayern's complete destruction of a fabled Barcelona side.
PSG themselves had needed two late goals to scrape a comeback against Atalanta, then seemingly returned with business as usual against RB Leipzig in a routine last-four win.
Despite the dominance of their foes, they arguably packed two of the best players on the planet in their offensive lineup, in Kylian Mbappe and record money-man Neymar.
Yet, in front of a stadium devoid of fans, they came unstuck to a Kingsley Coman goal, their well-heeled slate of superstar names unable to get over the line for the biggest prize.
A year later, the arrival of Lionel Messi heralded what fans hoped would be a new dawn for fans, a multiple Ballon d'Or winner who, even in his older years, was still a serious force.
But the Argentine's two-year stay paid few dividends. While he delivered long-awaited FIFA World Cup glory for his country, Messi failed to replicate at PSG and left in 2023.
All the while, the club continued to rack up domestic trophies by the shedload - but without advancement on their UCL quest, their prospects as a has-been contender seemed set.
Neymar followed Messi out of the door, offloaded to Saudi Arabia. Mbappe went a year later on a free, walking down his contract in controversial fashion for a move to Real Madrid.
Yet as one door closed, another opened - and the arrival of Luis Enrique before the 2023-24 campaign heralded the start of a steady rebuild with an emphasis on youthful faces.
Domestic starlets were brought into the fold: Bradley Barcola, followed by Desire Doue. Choice recruits from Serie A bolstered the ranks, in Fabian Ruiz and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
The capture of a former World Cup winner in Ousmane Dembele raised eyebrows, given his diminishing returns on form at Barcelona and his frequent issues with injuries.
Bit-by-bit though, the Spaniard worked his magic - and last season, they truly flowered into full bloom, built with incisive offensive power and well-drilled defensive skills.
Each homegrown honour fell in succession - the Trophée des Champions, then Ligue 1, then the Coupe de France, before finally, a return to the UCL final, this time in Germany.
There must have been a full-circle thrill for the club, and Marquinhos in particular, to take their maiden triumph at the home of the side who bested them five years before.
It was less a competition than a coronation, a confirmation of their blistering evolution and prowess as they shattered Inter Milan in a 5-0 rout to write their name into history.
Greater delights were to come in America though. Save a single concession in a shock loss to Botafogo, PSG have been in imperious form, growing with every round here.
Furthermore, there will have been a delighted schadenfreude for their fans as they conquered two of their former heroes along the way, both times in emphatic fashion.
Heavily favoured to win their last-16 tie against Inter Miami, they nevertheless ran rampant again to end Messi's tournament - and then did the same against Mbappe and Madrid.
On both occasions, they blew their opponents off the park, their talents announcing or reaffirming their credentials on one of the biggest stages of all, exorcising their demons.
Now, with one game left to go, European football's Ghostbusters have already banished their old memories - but a final victory against Chelsea on Sunday would be the real line on the page to cement a new chapter.
Watch the 2025 Club World Cup Final live on DAZN on Sunday. More information and to sign up for a free account here.
