Manchester City vs. Al-Hilal, for the Club World Cup

Manchester City faces Al Hilal on Monday night in the final round of the Club World Cup. The match will be played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

This is the first time the two teams have met in an official competition; the winner will face Fluminense , who earlier defeated Lautaro Martínez's Inter.

Manchester City, managed by Pep Guardiola, advanced to the round of 16 after completing a perfect group stage in Group G, with three wins and a 13-goal record, the best attack of the competition. Highlights included a 6-0 win over Al Ain, a match in which Diablito Echeverri stood out, and a 5-2 victory over Juventus, a victory that allowed the English club to avoid Real Madrid in this stage. Haaland and Bernardo Silva were key players in the excellent performance of the British team.

Al Hilal, considered the most important club in Asian football, advanced to this stage after finishing second in Group H, behind Real Madrid. The Saudi team, coached by Simone Inzaghi, drew 1-1 against the Spanish team, drew 0-0 with Salzburg, and beat Pachuca 2-0. Al Hilal is solid, having conceded a goal in the first half.

England's dominance was almost absolute from start to finish. Haaland, Doku, Savinho, Gündoğan, Bernardo Silva, among them all, the gap was abysmal from the start, when Silva opened the scoring in the ninth minute. The play was reviewed by VAR for an alleged handball by Nouri during the build-up.

Al-Hilal is a good team, with an outstanding coach like Simone Inzaghi and several ball-playing artists from around the world, such as Bono from Morocco, João Cancelo from Portugal, Kalidou Koulibaly from Senegal, and Renan Lodi from Brazil, among many others. They defend well, attack smartly, and have reached the knockout stage. Not bad at all.

At times, he stole the ball from City (a feat of his own), battled in the middle of the pitch, and brought a certain amount of energy to the final meters. The gap with the British giant was substantial, but at least he made his mark in several stretches of the show.

Possession, dominance, and the best saves belonged to Pep's team, who, however, couldn't reflect the difference on the pitch on the scoreboard. The game of differences was so great that it was worth taking a look at the substitute benches to take note of the dimension of the hierarchy. While Bono prevented another drop in the Asian giant's score, the camera focused on Foden, Rodri, and Aké, among several illustrious players.

European dominance, then, was halfway there. On the one hand, they had almost complete control of the show, but on the other, they lacked decisiveness in the final meters. City was deflated in the opponent's box. Doku was a good example: he started as if he was about to score the goal of his life and then collapsed almost immediately.

The second half began with a major surprise. Manchester City didn't defend with their usual strength, and the Asian team took advantage of the lapse and equalized. Marcos Leonardo's header sealed the 1-1 tie.

Then, in a way, "another game" began. Because Al-Hilal gained momentum, attacked more and better, and City felt uncomfortable, imprecise, volatile. With a couple of sensational runs, they really put them in trouble. By then, the game was even, and the result was a toss-up.

In a devastating counterattack, following a free kick in City's favor, Al-Hilal converted the second. They turned it around in six minutes! Malcom finished with a masterclass.

Quick on the uptake, Pep moved the ball. Rodri and Akanji came on, and Haaland quickly equalized after a free kick. Anything could have happened: there was a penalty for Al-Hilal, but it was quickly ruled out due to a prior offside.

And there was still half an hour left...

The European team advanced with tremendous enthusiasm, while the Asian team did what they could, but it wasn't pure improvisation. Whenever they found an opening, they struck. It was a high-voltage match, with the outcome uncertain until the very end. Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, enjoyed it from a comfortable box seat.

Haaland had a chance to finish it, but the goal was denied on the line. City attacked with everything they had to, but couldn't break Bono, who was sensational. The 90 minutes ended with an angry protest from the Catalan manager about referee Jesús Valenzuela of Venezuela.

And extra time began: anything could have happened, because City weren't sharp and their "humble" opponents were running like an arrow on every counterattack.

• Club World Cup
• Manchester City
• Pep Guardiola

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