Club World Cup Round of 16 Preview: Flamengo vs. Bayern Munich | OneFootball

Flamengo vs. Bayern Munich

Sunday June 29 @ 4:00pm ET

Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL

It’s fixtures like this that make the Club World Cup so special. One of Europe’s finest outfits facing up against a Brazilian giant.

Recent History

These two clubs have never played each other.

How They Qualified for the Round of 16

Flamengo finished first in Group C with seven points. They had a straight-forward 2- 0 victory over Espérance, then put a beat-down on Chelsea after the Blues went down to 10 men in the 57th minute. Ultimately that game ended 3 – 1. The final match against LAFC wasn’t their finest (their shot accuracy dipped to 21% from 54% in the previous two games) and that ended in a 1 – 1 draw.

Flamengo’s leading scorer is Wallace Yan, a 20 year old, and he’ll need to be on point for his side today. Feeding him will be the job of Luis Araújo, who leads the Rubro-Negro in key passes. Defenders Guillermo Varela and Léo Pereira have 5.2 tackles per game between them and should be busy against the Germans.

Bayern Munich finished second in Group D with six points. Statistically they are off the charts, only partially due to their 10 – 0 shellacking they inflicted against hapless Auckland City. Quite simply, Bayern’s first two games were masterclasses in soccer dominance. I’m not gonna say the German giants threw that final game against Benfica (the intensity they displayed in the final 20 minutes puts that rumor to the sword) but they certainly played smart in rotating the ‘A’ team out to give them a rest.

While many players have scored and played well, midfielders Michael Olise and Kingsley Coman stand above them all. They have 5 goals and 4 assists between them, and should carve through the Flamengo lines.

Expected Conditions

It’s Miami in the summer… and that means hot and muggy. The forecast calls for cloudy skies, which will be a relief for players and supporters, and the afternoon should be thunderstorm free, much to the joy of everyone. Of course, things can change.

The Hooligan Take

Bayern have been imperious, one of the best teams in the tournament. Even when they lost to Benfica they controlled the possession and outshot the winners. While Flamengo have been effective, I do not see them having the necessary quality to defeat Bayern. It will be critical for the Germans to score quickly and deflate Flamengo’s aspirations. Bayern should win by 2 – 0.