The European Giants Keep Falling, But Can David Defy Goliath To Lift The Club World Cup?

The European Giants Keep Falling, But Can David Defy Goliath To Lift The Club World Cup?

Chandler Milligan

As we enter the quarter finals of the revamped FIFA Club World Cup, only five of the original 12 European giants remain.

The host nation’s representatives faded quickly from the competition, as did those from Asia and Argentina.

All four sides from Brazil have lit up the competition, but after an intense Round of 16, only two remain.

And Al Hilal, now led by Simone Inzaghi, caused the shock of the tournament to progress to the quarter-finals.

If the big guns from the top five leagues thought they would cruise through the knockouts against their non-European opponents, they’ve been firmly proven wrong.

On one side of the bracket, things are exactly as you would expect: PSG vs Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund.

If you weren’t paying attention, you might think you were looking at a standard UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie.

The other side of the bracket is where the real vibes are found.

Chelsea and their billion-dollar Conference League squad look out of place alongside Palmeiras, Fluminense, and Al Hilal.

After finishing runners-up behind Dortmund in Group F, Fluminense continued their vibrant and strong defensive football with a stunning victory over UCL Finalists, Inter Milan.

With Thiago Silva at the heart of their resilient defence, the Brazilian side triumphed with a remarkable 2-0 result over the Italian Goliaths.

If that was a shock, it was a mere raindrop next to the storm that Al Hilal cooked up against Manchester City.

Coming off the back of an unsuccessful season (by their standards), Pep Guardiola’s side regrouped, signed Rayan Ait Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders, and the highly-regarded Rayan Cherki from Olympique Lyon, and entered the tournament with focus and purpose.

The blue side of Manchester arrived, striving to claim the World Champion title that they could proudly wear for the next four years.

They topped their group emphatically, making headlines with a brutal 5-2 demolition over Juventus in their final game.

Paired up against Al Hilal, who recently welcomed Simone Inzaghi to the helm, it seemed like a pretty straightforward route to the next round.

After taking an early lead through Bernardo Silva, Al Hilal hit back with goals from Marcos Leonardo and Malcom.

Erling Haaland equalised, and the Citizens were dragged to extra time in Florida.

Koulibaly pulled the Saudi side ahead before Phil Foden equalised, and with the score locked at 3-3, Leonardo forced an awkward ball over the line from close range to send Manchester City back to England.

So, on one side of the bracket we have four European heavyweights, and on the opposite side of the bracket we have three hard-hitting underdogs (and Chelsea).

If one side represents David, then the other side represents Goliath.

The question now is, can David defeat Goliath to lift the new FIFA Club World Cup trophy?

PSG are clearly the strongest team in the competition, coming off the back of a historic treble-winning campaign that saw them finally win the UEFA Champions League with a record-breaking 5-0 victory over Inter Milan.

So far in this tournament, they have looked on form (aside from a shock 1-0 defeat to Botafogo) with an authoritative 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid, a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, and an imposing 4-0 victory to eliminate Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in the Round of 16.

They face a fierce Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.

After a 10-0 victory in their opening game, Bayern have laboured to a 2-1 result over Boca Juniors, a 1-0 defeat against Benfica, and an intense 4-2 victory over Flamengo to secure progression.

PSG are favourites, but Bayern won’t go quietly.

On the other hand, Real Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund for a place in the semi-finals.

Since their close 1-1 draw against Al Hilal in the opening round, Los Blancos cruised to the knockouts with a 3-1 win over Pachuca and a 3-0 win over Salzburg.

It took a slender 1-0 win over Juventus to progress.

Borussia Dortmund too started their Club World Cup campaign with a 0-0 draw against Fluminense before defeating Mamelodi Sundowns 4-3 and Ulsan HD 1-0 to top their group.

A 2-1 win over Monterrey saw them progress to the quarter-finals.

Given Dortmund’s inability to perform under pressure, it would be a great shock if Real Madrid didn’t progress to the next stage.

Prediction: PSG vs Real Madrid

On the other side of the bracket, Palmeiras will face Chelsea for a place in the semi-finals.

They progressed with a draw against Porto and Inter Miami, alongside a 2-0 win over Al Ahly and a hard-fought 1-0 extra-time victory over Botafogo.

Chelsea were humbled 3-1 by Flamengo in their group, but progressed with wins over LAFC and Esperance.

A 4-1 extra-time victory over Benfica saw them through to the next round.

While Chelsea are favourites on paper, they haven’t faced the toughest opponents, and Palmeiras can take confidence in the fact that their fellow Brazilians were able to defeat the Blues.

It took two draws against Dortmund and Sundowns, along with a 4-2 victory over Ulsan, for Fluminense to progress to the knockouts.

Not the most convincing group stage performance, but their 2-0 masterclass over Inter Milan has shown that this team is capable of punching above their weight.

And now onto perhaps the most interesting team in the competition, Al Hilal.

They earned plaudits for their thoroughly dominant performance in a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid before grinding out a tense 0-0 draw against Salzburg.

Their 2-0 win over Pachuca saw them into the knockouts, and a stunning 4-3 victory over Manchester City announced their quality to the world.

Did Cristiano Ronaldo have a point when he said the Saudi Pro League was a top-five league in the world?

We’ll have to wait and see.

With a Scudetto-winning coach who guided Inter to two Champions League finals during his four-year spell, Simone Inzaghi is one of the most impressive managers in the tournament.

His star-studded squad includes Yassine Bounou, Kalidou Koulibaly, Renan Lodi, João Cancelo, Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Marcos Leonardo, and Malcom, alongside a cohort of talented Saudi Arabian players.

They pose a balanced side that wouldn’t look out of place in most top European leagues. But can they go all the way?

With their performances against Real Madrid and Manchester City, and the quality of their squad, Al Hilal should be favourites to overcome Fluminense, and should certainly back themselves to defeat Palmeiras or Chelsea in the semi-finals to progress to the Club World Cup Final.

If Al Hilal were to go all the way, they would likely face PSG or Real Madrid (barring another unexpected result), and while neither opponent will be easy, Al Hilal have the experience and depth to mount a genuine challenge for the trophy.

If David were to defeat Goliath and make history in the Club World Cup, Al Hilal represent their strongest chance to defy the European giants.