Manchester City were crowned champions of the world on Friday night as they overcame Brazilian side Fluminense at the Club World Cup.
A brilliant improvised finish from Julian Alvarez gave City the perfect start, with the Argentinian reacting to a rebound to knock the ball home. City doubled their lead courtesy of an own goal from Fluminense’s Nino.
While Fluminense tried to get back into the game, there was a real quality gap between the two sides. And this showed when Phil Foden hit City’s third goal, before Alvarez scored his second to wrap up the game.
Here, Sam Lee analyses City’s 4-0 victory over Fluminense.
How much of an issue would Rodri’s absence be to City?
The best team in the world, but at what cost? No mid-season trophy would be worth an injury to Rodri, so there was considerable anguish when City’s lynchpin suffered a painful-looking ankle injury around the hour mark.
The signs are positive — the club’s medical staff gave it the thumbs up after a couple of minutes of treatment — and the hope will be that his substitution soon afterwards was a simple precaution.
Nobody, even Guardiola himself, would need reminding that City have lost all four matches without Rodri this season and, while those games come with some caveats (the team for the Carabao Cup game at Newcastle was completely changed and he would not have played anyway, for example), his importance is not lost on anybody as City simply do not have a like-for-like replacement.
Another trophy will do very nicely for City, but not as nicely as Guardiola confirming that Rodri will be OK to face Everton next week.
Is the Club World Cup format change the right solution?
A lot has been made of this Club World Cup final this week, the last in its current guise.
Not least because there are massive cultural differences in how this fixture is viewed: in Brazil it is huge, for some even bigger than the Copa Libertadores. For us Brits, it ranks below the League Cup. There has also been the danger of playing down Fluminense’s threat.
Guardiola was criticised in Brazil for saying he had not seen much of them the other day, in much the same way that he would only look at, say, RB Leipzig in the 48 hours before they play each other. He would never show them a lack of respect and his starting line-up, which would not look out of place in a Champions League final, showed. As did his attire, given he was wearing a suit.
Fluminense are a dangerous side and more than that, they are one to be admired: they play a completely different style of football not just to what we see in Europe, but even in South America. They showed in the first half in Jeddah that they could cause City problems, too.
In Brazil, there have been those who accuse the English of arrogance regarding this competition and this match and, let’s be honest, they are probably right. But no matter how much we can recognise the Libertadores champions’ threat, you have to also recognise that the European game has become so powerful that there are no teams elsewhere in the world who can hold a candle to the Champions League winners of any given year.
Even the most passionate Fluminense fans would think you were being disingenuous if you ignored the difference in financial resources. No wonder FIFA has tried to freshen things up, although its 32-team solution, even if held every four years, is unlikely to fix things. That will probably end up with a knockout stage of European clubs going through the motions, forced into a competition they did not want without even the bonus of Super League money (which they probably do want).
Whatever the format, you would find very few teams who want to end up facing Guardiola’s City, a trophy-winning machine.
What did City’s fast start tell us about them?
Complacency is a word never far from the City conversation this season as it is almost expected that a team to have won the treble, to have finally got their hands on the Champions League, would take their foot off the gas a bit. This is especially the case after a poor run of results in the Premier League before they headed to Jeddah.
But look at how they harangued Fluminense from the first whistle at the King Abdullah stadium. Aware of the Brazilians’ threat, and their desire for overloads, City sent four men down into the corner to box them in from a deep throw-in. It led to an aimless kick into midfield that was picked up by Nathan Ake.
Due to Fluminense determination to crowd several players into small areas, they were understaffed as the Dutchman advanced and curled a shot off the post — it is not often he can do that!
Alvarez’s movement was first class; it was easy to assume, on first viewing, that he would be offside, but the replays showed there was no question of that, and his stoop to chest the ball in gave City a platform for their victory.
Fluminense gave them some difficult moments, but the difference in class (between Europe and the rest of the world, never mind these two teams) was obvious.
What did the players say?
Phil Foden was interviewed after the match and said: “Fair play to Fluminense, I love the way they play, the short passes… they’re a great side and they didn’t make it easy.
“I thought the lads showed not just quality, but heart and determination, too. We’re not used to playing in this heat so it was difficult, but we’re delighted with the outcome.”
When asked how he felt to be a “world champion”, Foden added: “Over the world. This one is so important for the club as well so I’m delighted. It’s massive for the club.”
What next for Manchester City?
Wednesday, December 27: Everton (A), Premier League, 8.15pm GMT, 9am ET
City’s players will barely be back in England, let alone finishing their turkey, by the time they travel to Goodison Park. They have only failed to beat Everton once in their past 12 games — a 1-1 draw at the Etihad 12 months ago.
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(Top photo: Francois Nel/Getty Images)
