Benfica and Bayern Munich are going into the last match for the two teams from Group C of the Club World Cup. The match will be played at the “Bank of America Stadium” in Charlotte, North Carolina at 10:00 p.m., sportal.bg reported.
The two teams have been performing very well in the tournament so far. In fact, the Bavarians were one of the first teams to qualify for the eliminations after their two victories. Benfica, on the other hand, has 4 points and an excellent goal difference of +6 goals.
So considering the circumstances, a draw works out great for both teams. With it, Bayern will guarantee themselves the group win, and Benfica will also secure qualification for the next phase, without depending on the result of Boca Juniors against the underdog Auckland City, which will be played at the same time. Of course, it is certain that given the large prize fund for each match, thin calculations will hardly be made and both teams will be looking for victory.
Benfica has some problems for the match. Striker Andrea Belotti and Real Madrid's transfer target left-back Alvaro Carreras are suspended, and Florentino Luis is injured. For Bayern, Kim Min-Jae is still not recovered, and Jamal Musiala, who was forced out in the victory over Boca, trained normally and avoided a serious injury, but he may be retained in this match, as well as other starters of the German champion.
Logically, the two teams have met many times on European pitches, the last time this happened in the last edition of the Champions League, when the Bavarians won 1:0. Bayern actually totally dominates this rivalry and is in a great series of five consecutive victories over the Portuguese, with no defeat by the “eagles” in the last 13 matches. In addition, the Germans have scored at least two goals in nine of these matches against Benfica.
Boca Juniors has very little chance of qualifying for the round of 16 of the Club World Cup. The Argentine giants face underdogs Oakland City in their final group game.
Boca have just one point after a draw with Benfica and a narrow loss to Bayern Munich. The Portuguese have four points and a draw against the Bavarians would be enough to qualify for the next round. If Benfica loses, Boca Juniors will have to win by a wide margin. That may not be that difficult, because Oakland have conceded 16 goals in their first two games.
The team from Buenos Aires, which enjoys incredible support from its fans, performed well in both of their games, but were unlucky to record a victory. Against Benfica, the Argentines led by two goals, but were left with a man less and allowed an equalizer. Against Bayern, they conceded a late goal. Oakland played one good half in both of their games. Against Benfica, the only amateur team in the tournament came close to not conceding a goal in the first half, but it came down to a penalty in added time and Angel Di Maria made no mistake.