Les Parisiens finish on a high against Gamba Osaka

A sold-out stadium, a tight-knit squad and plenty of positives to take away... In the final outing of their tour of Japan before they leave the Land of the Rising Sun, Paris Saint-Germain stepped up their summer preparations, as Christophe Galtier set to work putting together a starting XI to face Gamba Osaka in his side's final dress rehearsal before the Trophée des Champions.

As they did against Urawa Red Diamonds, Les Parisiens made the most of the opportunity to revise the basics with professionalism and focus. In an identical tactical setup to last time out, Christophe Galtier's men were meticulous and hard-working as they switched between spells of domination and moments of getting used to a three-man defence in order to stop any and all attempts from the opposition. Just in case they were given any scares, Gigio Donnarumma had his eye on things!

Paris's early territorial domination later materialised into clear-cut opportunities. After initial warning signs from Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr, Les Rouge et Bleu provided us with some lovely team moves, like the glorious sequence between Vitinha, Neymar Jr and Pablo Sarabia that ended in a miraculous save from the 'keeper in the 19th minute.

Between two cooling breaks, it was time to finish the job. After Achraf Hakimi went close, Sarabia was the one to give his side the lead! The Spaniard followed up Messi's attempt nicely to place a sweet strike into the back of the net (0-1, 28'). Given their overwhelming domination, the goal had certainly been coming for Les Parisiens, who had been met by a goalkeeper living a seemingly charmed life up until then. Ten minutes of attacking madness then followed with four goals!

Neymar Jr firstly won a penalty with a devastating turn – a penalty that he took it upon himself to convert with his usual ease (0-2, 31'), just before the hosts reduced the deficit through Keisuke Kurokawa (1-2, 34'). Nuno Mendes then got on the end of a switch of play from Vitinha to bag Paris's third goal with a rocket that flew across goal and into the corner of the net (1-3, 37') before Messi, having been played in by Neymar Jr, extended his side's lead (1-4, 39').

In the second half, the two players swapped roles and did it all over again. This time, Messi turned provider for Neymar Jr, who scored into an empty net after bamboozling the 'keeper (1-5, 60') – a job well done. The valiant Gamba Osaka players didn't give up, though, as demonstrated by Hiroto Yamami's goal (2-5, 70').

As has often been the case in pre-season, Galtier later called upon all of his resources by replacing his entire XI. Having only just come onto the pitch, Kylian Mbappé, who had put on the captain's armband, made his presence known with a hatful of lightning-fast runs, winning a penalty as a result of one of them and then converting it with authority (1-6, 85').

The French champions put in a shift until the end and closed out their Japanese tour on a high, as if to reflect a training camp that had been a success on every level. They can now look forward to their next aim: getting the 2022-23 season off to a good start with the Trophée des Champions in Israel on Sunday.