Club World Cup, Manchester City catches up with Fluminense
Club World Cup, Manchester City-Fluminense final
Manchester City and Fluminense will be the contenders for the 2023 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, the last one with the formula limited to the champions of each confederation and a representative of the host country before the "revolution" scheduled for 2025, with the enlargement to 32 clubs.The Citizens beat the Urawa Red Diamonds, the reigning Asian champion Japanese club, 3-0 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
That of the Citizens è was a dominant performance from all points of view, although the siege carried from the first minute did not bring concrete results until almost the end of the fraction and è an unfortunate own goal by Marius Hoibraaten to put Pep Guardiola’s men ahead a few seconds past 45'.
Those expecting a reaction from the Japanese were disappointed by a start to the second half still in the Mancunian brand: Mateo Kovacic doubled at minute 52', seven laps of the hands later è Bernardo Silva finally closed the accounts, putting on ice the qualification to the first World Cup final in the club’s history.
At the end, the statistics are merciless and render well in numbers the difference between the two teams on the field: in fact, Manchester City dominated at the level of ball possession (74 percent vs. 26 percent) and overall shots (25-2), not even leaving crumbs to the day’s opponents. On Friday, 22 at 7 p.m. Italian time, the final between City and Fluminense.
For both clubs è the first ever opportunity to boast the title of world champion, although the Brazilians boast in their history the 1952 success at the International Tournament of Champions Clubs (beat Corinthians in the final), considered the forerunner of the Intercontinental Cup and the Club World Cup. Urawa, on the other hand, has only to play for third place against Egypt's Al Ahly (also Friday at 3:30 p.m.), defeated in the semifinal against Rio de Janeiro's Tricolor.
