Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala celebrates his hat-trick against Auckland City FC at the FIFA Club … More
There would be no surprise underdog story on the second day of the FIFA Club World Cup as Bayern Munich smashed the OFC Champions League winners Auckland City FC 10-0 at the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati. According to Transfermarkt, it is the biggest win by any team since the introduction of the FIFA Club World Cup. That record, however, stretches back to the old format.
Either way, the result was to be expected. After all, the two teams have the largest gulf in terms of Transfermarkt squad value among all teams at the tournament. While Auckland City has a combined market value of just €4.58 million ($5.29 million), Bayern’s total squad value is €903.5 million ($1.04 billion) the fifth highest among all teams at the FIFA Club World Cup.
From the kickoff, there was never any doubt that Bayern was going to dominate the game, storming to a 6-0 halftime lead. Indeed, it took just six minutes for the Rekordmeister to take the lead thanks to a goal by Kingsley Coman. Then Sasha Boey doubled the score (18’) and from there the goals kept on coming: Coman again (22’), Michael Olise (20’ and 45’), and Thomas Müller (43’) secured a comfortable halftime lead.
The result was expected, given that on paper, Auckland City FC is an amateur team with players holding full-time jobs. “We’re realistic,” Auckland City coach Ivan Vicelich said ahead of the game. “We’re up against one of the best teams in the world and the favorites to win the tournament.”
With the win secured, Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany opted to experiment a bit for the second half, handing 17-year-old playmaker Lennart Karl his first team debut. Karl came on for Olise. Also, on was Serge Gnaby from Coman. The two Frenchmen were on a hat-trick, but it wasn’t meant to be today.
Bayern Munich talent Lennart Karl surrounded by Auckland City players. The 17-year-old made his … More
Given the gulf in quality between Bayern and Auckland City, should Kompany have played a more experimental lineup? Kompany argued against that approach in the pre-game press conference yesterday, pointing to his experience playing with the national team against smaller nations.
“It happens more often in the national team that you play against supposedly smaller teams,” Kompany said. “We’re playing against a team that’ll probably be very compact and waiting for a moment. We must show them respect. We want to approach the game seriously and do our job. We’ll prepare for all games as normal.”
With that in mind, the focus was on getting the job done as quickly as possible and then focus on handing out playing time to younger players and the likes of Jamal Musiala and Dayot Upamecano, who have returned from injury. The two did come on in the second half, replacing Harry Kane and Raphaël Guerreiro.
The substitutions and the heat in Cincinnati then disrupted the flow of the game in the second half. It could also be the fact that Bayern took the foot off the gas pedal for the second half. After all, the schedule won’t get easier for the Rekordmeister as Argentina’s legendary Boca Juniors and Portuguese giants Benfica are up next.
Indeed, it took until the 68th minute for Bayern Munich to score again. This time it was Musiala, who scored with a beautiful effort from outside the box. The playmaker then scored a second just four minutes later from the penalty box and completed his hat-trick in the 84th minute. Müller then secured his brace by scoring in the 89th minute to make it 10-0.
What then, if anything, can we take away from Bayern’s first day at the FIFA Club World Cup? The most important thing is that Kompany’s team never left any doubt that they were going to win this game. From the first moment, the Rekordmeister showed complete professionalism, securing what will, without a doubt, be the easiest win at the tournament.
