February 4 – Tigres UANL and Ulsan Hyundai will kick off the 2020 Club World Cup tonight in Qatar with European champions Bayern Munich the sky-high favourites to triumph in a tournament that was moved back because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Last weekend, Palmeiras completed the line-up for the tournament after winning a tense Copa Libertadores final against local rivals Santos with an injury-time header from substitute Breno Lopes. The Brazilian delegation has already arrived in the Qatari capital where they will await the winner of Thursday’s quarter-final and tournament curtain raiser between the Concacaf champions and the Asian Champions.
The expectation is that the Brazilians will set up a final against Bayern Munich. Liverpool won last year’s tournament defeating Flamengo from Brazil and Europe’s representatives will once again be the favourites to prevail.
Bayern Munich are no longer in the resplendent form of last summer when they annihilated Barcelona 8-2 before defeating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the Champions League final, but they should still have enough resources and quality to overcome inferior opposition in the semi-finals, where they will meet either African champions Al Ahly from Egypt or Qatar’s Al Duhail, and final.
“The level is the highest that it could possibly be and it’s very difficult to win, but what’s important is to go there and play to the best of our abilities,” said Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane. “[We want] everyone to see that we’ve done the best against the best teams in the world so there’s nothing bigger for me and Al Ahly.
“Any coach that goes to any tournament believes that he can win it, but the reality is how do you beat Bayern Munich – who have just defeated the mighty Barcelona 8-2 on aggregate with Lionel Messi on the pitch?”
Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick has included all of Bayern Munich’s big stars for the tournament. The Germans have one Club World Cup crown to their name, having won the tournament in 2013 in Morocco. Flick said: “It’s always the case at Bayern Munich that you want to have the most successful season possible and after the treble, you’re obviously looking at the FIFA Club World Cup.”
The tournament, which originally had been due to take place last December, is being staged amid severe Coronavirus restrictions. Oceania champions Auckland FC withdrew from the tournament because of quarantine restrictions required by the New Zealand authorities and foreign fans have been barred from entering Qatar. Stadiums will operate at 30% capacity with all fans required to provide a negative Covid-19 test to attend the matches. Other mandatory measures include social distancing, mask wearing and use of Qatar’s contact tracing app.
The Qatari have ample experience of staging matches and tournaments in pandemic times after having hosted a majority of matches of the 2020 AFC Champions League and allowing 20,000 fans at last December’s Amir Cup final.
The Club World Cup will be another test event for local organisers on the road to the 2022 World Cup. Next December, Qatar will stage the FIFA Arab Cup, while Japan, with FIFA squeezing the calendar, will host the 2021 Club World Cup.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1713410955labto1713410955ofdlr1713410955owedi1713410955sni@o1713410955fni1713410955