VILLARREAL, Spain (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain faced a test of its squad strength with four of its best players missing for the trip to Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The defending champions were coping just fine, though.
Helped by dreadful defending, PSG swept into a 4-0 lead after 17 minutes of a mismatch at El Madrigal.
The goals that sunk the Yellow Submarine — the nickname of Villarreal — came in an eight-minute burst, scoring in the 9th when Joao Neves poked home a loose ball after missing the initial corner into the box.
Desire Doue added a second in the 12th, Senny Mayulu scored a minute later and Fabian Ruiz slammed home in the 17th — with all three goals stemming from mistakes by Villarreal as they played out from the back or got dispossessed in its own half.
PSG, which started the fourth round of games in first place in the standings, was without Ousmane Dembele, Marquinhos and Nuno Mendes because of thigh injuries, along with long-term absentee Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (ruptured ACL).
It wasn’t stopping PSG heading for a 10th straight win in all competitions.
