Heat, goals, passion: Bayern beat Flamengo and look forward to PSG

As the Florida sun slowly began to set in the early hours of Sunday evening local time, leaving a pleasant and no longer biting heat in its wake, there was a sense of relief throughout FC Bayern. The hard-fought 4-2 (3-1) win over Brazil's league leaders Flamengo Rio de Janeiro secured progression to the quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup. "Winning such a tough game and progressing to the next round is not something you take for granted,“ said a happy board member for sport Max Eberl: "Of course, at Bayern you expect quarter-finals, semi-finals. That's how it has to be - but you never know who you'll meet along the way."

"The intensity was wild"

They were nothing less than a team who Vincent Kompany described in the run-up to and after those extremely intense 90 minutes in Miami as a top team who would easily be one of the best in Europe: "We played well, but the intensity was wild. We stepped it up. It was a good game," said the FC Bayern head coach.

The 60,914 spectators, the vast majority of them Flamengo fans, were at least gripped, if not exhilarated, by the intensity of the match in temperatures of over 30 degrees and 82 per cent humidity. They saw thrilling challenges, six goals, a truly unbelievable save and two teams who, despite the heat, relentlessly kept getting forward, tirelessly probing their opponents' defences and obsessively waiting to take advantage of mistakes. It was only the strenuous climatic conditions that led to mistakes on both sides - but FC Bayern knew how to exploit them more profitably, which made the crucial difference at the end of the match. "You work up a sweat in these conditions," said a beaming Leon Goretzka: "But of course it's fun when you're able to win battles like these."

Two goals in nine minutes

With seven changes to the starting XI, a confident FC Bayern put the much -auded Flamengo under enormous pressure from the kick-off. "Our plan worked, we were able to press high and create great chances to score. But we were playing against the footballing elite, we have to accept that they were better than us," admitted the Brazilians' coach Filipe Luís. In the first five minutes alone, FC Bayern repeatedly forced them into giving away corners, the third of which Erick Pulgar unfortunately headed into his own goal. And some Brazilian fans were reminded of the ‘sete a um’ (7-1) of the 2014 World Cup when Harry Kane's perfect finish from distance made it 2-0 just four minutes later.

FC Bayern themselves ensured that the game did not continue in the same vein, suddenly loosening their grip after this high-intensity start, relinquishing control and dominance and allowing Flamengo to pitch camp in the Bavarians’ half. Manuel Neuer first impressively demonstrated why he has won the World Goalkeeper of the Year trophy five times: the former Germany international saved an attempt from Luiz Araújo from just six metres out with lightning-fast reflexes. Shortly afterwards, however, Neuer was powerless against a powerful thunderbolt from Gerson, who blasted the ball over Neuer's fists and into the Bayern goal to make it 2-1.

Goal like a shovel of coal

Like a shovel of coal thrown into the embers, the Brazilian's goal sparked wildly flickering flames in the stands: The Flamengo fans sang and danced. But it was also a wake-up call for FC Bayern, who were able to pull away again with Leon Goretzka's low strike to make it 3-1. "You might have thought it was going to be tight, but our boys' response was very mature, " said a delighted Eberl.

Read about the most important moments from the game:

That was evident after the break, when FC Bayern came up with the perfect response to what was arguably the best goal of the day. First, Michael Olise was unlucky when the ball struck his arm in the box and Jorginho converted from the spot to make it 3-2. The game briefly became more heated, with Flamengo knocking on the door again - but Konrad Laimer, Leroy Sané in his last game for FC Bayern and Joshua Kimmich won the ball in a high press, Kimmich set up Kane and the striker fired an arrow deep into the heart of the Brazilians to make it 4-2.

“We stayed cool”

"After the 3-2, with the penalty, we stayed composed, kept our cool and deserved to win in the end - it was a very, very big challenge we overcame," said Eberl. "We had that killer instinct that we lacked a bit against Benfica," said captain Manuel Neuer. That will hopefully help on Saturday, when UEFA Champions League winners Paris St Germain are Bayern's quarter-final opponents in Atlanta. "I think it's in an air-conditioned stadium, right?" asked Vincent Kompany with a smile. The sun won't play a role then.

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