FIFA Club World Cup
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Benfica have finished top of Group C at the Club World Cup after beating Bayern Munich 1-0 in Charlotte.
The German champions have had to settle for second place in the group after Andreas Schjelderup scored the game’s only goal in the 13th minute. Bayern pushed for an equaliser in a much-improved second half but Benfica stood firm defensively, with goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin making a string of big saves.
In the other game, Auckland City stunned Boca Juniors with a 1-1 draw to pick up their first point of the tournament.
An utterly embarrassing end for Boca Juniors at this Club World Cup.
Their football, and their brand, have been weakened in South America for several years now they've been eliminated after being unable to defeat an amateur side.
Boca have great fans, but they have no tactical identity. After failing to qualify for the Copa Libertadores (having lost to Alianza Lima in a play-in match), this Club World Cup was an opportunity to prove that bad stretches can come to an end at a major tournament.
The blame continues to be placed on club legend Juan Roman Riquelme, now the club's president, who has been labeled an authoritarian by his most ardent detractors in Argentina.
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A fabulous moment for Auckland City. They have improved with every game and in spite of beginning the tournament with that humiliating defeat to Bayern Munich.
However limited their resources may be, they’ve played with great heart and discipline, and been coached to a high standard.
A lovely story.
What a moment for those Auckland City players!
They have a point at this Club World Cup, and they have done it against South American giants Boca Juniors.
In the end, the result of this match was irrelevant in terms of the knockouts but there was plenty of pride on the line and boy have the New Zealanders done themselves proud!
That is some result for the semi-professionals. As for Boca, easily one of their worst-ever results.
Flamengo’s reward for beating Chelsea?
A last-16 tie with Bayern Munich.
As Ed mentions, the knockout-stage ties are coming together. Here are the ones confirmed so far:
Saturday
Sunday
All times ET
Benfica will have to wait for this evening's game to find out their last-16 opponents as they will play the runners-up from Group D.
The team currently occupying that position is Chelsea, who just need a point against Esperance to confirm second place.
As for Bayern Munich, they can already start preparing for the first knockout tie as they will face Group D winners Flamengo. That game will take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami at 4pm ET on Sunday.
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That was a defiant Bruno Lage as he spoke to DAZN after the match and was obviously pleased with his side as they progress top of Group C.
💬 “It was very tough. When you look at the game, OK, maybe Bayern deserved to win the game. It means a lot for us, we finished first and it's a good feeling for us. It's time for people to believe more in the work we are doing.
“We are talking about the work from our president and sporting director and also me and my players. You need to win against Boca, score a lot of goals against Auckland to go second and they forgot this game.
“I never forgot we had three games in a row and people should believe more in the work we are doing so we can have these victories in front of this support.”
Angel Di Maria has cheered up after looking far more serious before the match!
The Bayern Munich manager was obviously disappointed after that result which will see his team travel to play Flamengo in the knockout stage in Miami — here is what he said to DAZN at full time.
💬 “In the second half we played really well. It's football and if you have the chances one on one with the goalkeeper and you don't take them, you get punished. I'd rather finish strong because the first half was slow, that first breath and that first time you are confronted with the heat can be hard.
“It was either Flamengo or Chelsea so it's going to be a tough game. There's nothing negative to take forward, maybe a positive is we don't have play in Charlotte anymore. We can still take a lot of momentum into the next game.”
Here’s how we rate the Benfica players after that result:
Subs:
What a match! And a frustrating one for Vincent Kompany's team. As we digest that result, here’s how we rate Bayern Munich’s players:
Subs:
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That's not insignificant for Bayern.
That defeat and dropping into second place in their group means that they lose (if my maths is correct) €1.74m in prize money and could now face PSG in the quarter-final, if they beat Flamengo.
How about that for a performance from Benfica?!
We've had a few historic moments at this Club World Cup and that result has brought another one — that was Benfica's first ever win against Bayern Munich.
Benfica sealed their place in the Club World Cup knockouts and topped Group C with a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich, who finished as runners-up.
The heat in Charlotte was intense, around the 40C (104F) mark, as it has been in many early kick-offs through the tournament.
Both teams go through to the knockouts and will find out their opponents when Group D finishes later today.
Below, The Athletic's Seb Stafford-Bloor and Mark Carey break down the action from Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte.
GO FURTHER
Benfica 1 Bayern Munich 0 – How did players cope with heat? Has Kompany got a Musiala deputy?
That's it!
Benfica win and top Group C ahead of Bayern after beating the German side!
What effect that has on the knockout stages, we'll find out later today…
90+9' Benfica 1-0 Bayern Munich
Great chance for Harry Kane from Olise's corner but the ball hits his shoulder and skips wide!
Benfica got a (soft) free kick anyway before a slight push from Kane on Otamendi.
And…
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90+8' Benfica 1-0 Bayern Munich
Good from Benfica subs Gouveia and Bajrami.
Gouveia, on the right touchline, holds the ball up really well and wins the throw from Thomas Muller after tricking past the veteran.
Then Bajrami slides in to put a cross behind for a corner.
90+7' Benfica 1-0 Bayern Munich
…but they're somehow still hanging on.
5-4-1 formation, almost everyone behind the ball, they're super deep and narrow, clinging on to their narrow lead.
Bayern desperately trying to make something happen but running out of time.
A minute or so left!
Progress in the game over in Nashville — we have a restart time of ten minutes' time.
The game was suspended with the score locked at 1-1 between Boca Juniors and Auckland City due to inclement weather.
The players are going to have a bit of a warm up before resuming play, though with the Bayern Munich-Benfica game very nearly finished and Boca heading out, there hardly seems much point in playing on now.
