FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund are in the Club World Cup semi-finals. What does the road to the title look like?
As things stand, two nations are dominating the Club World Cup in the US, and not everyone would have predicted this beforehand: Only Brazil and Germany have advanced to the quarterfinals with two teams each—and have the chance to play each other in one of the semifinals.
Fluminense surprised Champions League finalist Inter Milan (2-0) in the round of 16 and will face Manchester City’s nemesis Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia in the first quarterfinal on Friday (9 p.m.). Palmeiras won the Brazilian round of 16 against Botafogo 1-0 and will play Chelsea FC (4-1 a.e.t. against Benfica Lisbon) on Saturday night (3 a.m.) for a place in the semifinals. This will take place on Tuesday (9 p.m.) at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The lower half of the tournament is dominated by European teams, who are now facing each other. It is already certain that at least one club from Europe will be in the final on Sunday, July 13 (9 p.m.). And the Bundesliga has a good chance of providing one of those clubs.
After its 4-2 victory over Flamengo on Saturday (6 p.m.), FC Bayern will face Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain in Atlanta and could then face Borussia Dortmund if it wins. BVB reached the quarterfinals as the eighth and final team with a 2-1 win over Monterrey and can look forward to a reunion with Real Madrid on Saturday (10 p.m.), who knocked Juventus Turin out of the tournament (1-0).
BVB could play three times in a row at MetLife Stadium
Curious: Even if BVB were to reach the final, they would only play in one stadium: both the quarter-final and the possible semi-final against Bayern or PSG (Wednesday, 9 p.m.) are scheduled to take place in the final stadium in New Jersey. The Black and Yellows are already familiar with the home ground of NFL teams New York Giants and New York Jets from their 0-0 draw with Fluminense in their Club World Cup opener.