When it comes to protecting yourself from the heat, the football fans in Charlotte proved extraordinarily creative this Tuesday afternoon. Ranging from oversized hats to wet towels and umbrellas, the crowd offered several original solutions to provide protection from the oppressive heat. The thermometer showed 37 degrees Celsius in the shade, of which their was precious little to speak of. With no roof to shield the fans from the blazing sun, the stadium felt like an oven. From the stands it seemed hard to imagine how anybody could play football on the pitch below.
In these conditions, Bayern experienced the worst start possible in their final group match of the Club World Cup, when Andreas Schjelderup put the Portuguese record champions ahead after 13 minutes. Now, Vincent Kompany's team faced an even more difficult challenge which, in the end, proved too much for Bayern as they suffered a 1-0 defeat in the afternoon heat of North Carolina and progressed to the round of 16 as runners-up of Group C.
A disappointing result
“Obviously the result is disappointing,” Thomas Müller said after the final whistle. But ultimately, you have to accept it. “That's football.” Following the close defeat, the players looked at themselves for answers rather than blaming external conditions. “It was brutally hot today. Of course, we all play in the same conditions so we don't want to look for excuses,” said Manuel Neuer. “Our mistake was we didn't show the same intensity in the first half as we did in the second. We just weren't present enough.”
Bayern had made seven changes to their line-up from the 2-1 win against Boca Juniors and needed some time to adjust after the early setback. It was only after the half-time break and some fresh wind brought on by several substitutions that Bayern were finally able to strangle Benfica with attacking football. In the end, there was no doubt Bayern would have deserved to an equaliser at least. Kompany's players created a multitude of scoring opportunities but failed to take any. Leroy Sané alone had three one-on-ones with goalkeeper Anatolij Trubin but failed to capitalise on his chances.
Bayern wasteful up front
“We created many chances and played really well after the break,” head coach Kompany analysed. If you don't use one-on-one situations with the goalkeeper or other opportunities to score, you pay the price.” And Müller agreed: “In the second half, we played very well in my opinion. We were very aggressive in possession and exhausted our opponents.” However, due to the many missed opportunities, Müller also admitted: “To a certain degree, it's our own fault we didn't come away with at least a draw or even a win.”
Match report:
Ultimately, Bayern were forced to accept a defeat they will take in their stride after having already qualified for the round of 16 from their Club World Cup group following the the first two games. While Flamengo might appear as the stronger opponent on paper, every football player knows you have to beat every possible opponent on the way to winning tournaments, as Aleksandar Pavlović had already explained the previous day.
More momentum than negativity
According to Kompany, Bayern aren't taking “any negatives” into the round of 16 encounter with their Brazilian opposition. On the contrary, the Bavarians feel “a lot of momentum”, as Kompany explained. “We were dominant and created more chances, but we didn't win. We can't let that happen in the next rounds.” And Neuer added: “Looking at the second half today, we feel positive going forward. If we can create these kinds of chances for 90 minutes in the next game, I'm convinced we will be successful.”
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