Thomas Muller's last dance

New York Times

12 hours ago

The biggest expected mismatch of the tournament lived up to its reputation with Bayern putting 10 goals past Auckland City Getty Images Getty Images
Thomas Muller bid an emotional farewell to Bayern Munich fans at the end of the recently finished Bundesliga season and every game he plays at this Club World Cup could be his last.
The 35-year-old has spent 25 of those years at this club and he is their all-time record appearance holder.
150 goals and 211 assists in 503 league matches is an astonishing record, and one he will be confident of adding to today.
Back home, Auckland City are a possession-based side. They're such a domestic power, that they routinely enjoy more than 65% possession against opponents who frequently play in a low-block.
Most likely, an interesting inversion of that dynamic today, against Bayern Munich. Getty Images
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, there were no signs of complacency creeping in for Vincent Kompany.
💬 'In international football, it often happens that you play against supposedly smaller teams. I'll note that we're facing a team that will likely be very compact and wait for their moments.
'It's important for us to show them respect. We want to approach the game seriously and do our job.'
I first spoke to Auckland City about a month ago and — naturally — asked what they were doing to prepare for facing Bayern. The players and coaches I spoke to said that the focus was mainly on fitness work, as that was one area where they felt they could be competitive.
Defensive discipline will matter, of course, and most likely they will play deep and tight to their own penalty box, but expect plenty of effort and energy. Getty Images
Bayern Munich have pretty decent Club World Cup pedigree, albeit in the old format of the competition.
They have won the tournament on both occasions they have competed in it, in 2013 and 2020.
And they have won all four of their matches in the Club World Cup — it will take one of the great footballing shocks for Auckland City to avoid them making it five from five today. Getty Images
Bayern's attitude towards the tournament is difficult to nail down. On the one hand, any time a club like theirs competes on this kind of stage, the ego associated with that is never far away; Bayern are here to win. Actually, in the dressing-room after his side's elimination from the Champions League by Inter Milan, Vincent Kompany identified the Club World Cup as their next target, So, the messaging will be strong, certainly.
On the other hand, the media build-up in Germany has been strange and while most local media now have the usual features, like where and how to watch the games, special sections etc, there's still more focus on the transfer market than on how Bayern (or Dortmund) might fair. And because of the way German Football thinks, there's some distrust. Commercialism is the great enemy of the German football fan, making for an awkward relationship with a competition for which the ticket prices were (originally) sky high, the games are kicking off in the middle of the night and for which the motivation is hardly ambiguous.
Look beyond that, though, and this is a really fun group. Auckland City pose a different sort of challenge, but Bayern vs Boca Juniors is the kind of fixture that most will surely have a passing interest in and Benfica should certainly be competitive. Getty Images
I suspect the last thing the Auckland City defenders wanted to see on the Bayern Munich teamsheet was Harry Kane's name.
The England captain, fresh from winning the first trophy of his career, has the chance to race into the lead for the Golden Boot at this tournament against one of the lowest-ranked teams he will faced in his senior career.
Across 46 appearances for Bayern this season, Kane scored 38 goals and put on 13 assists. It is near-on impossible to imagine him not adding to that impressive tally today.
I spent some time getting to know a few Auckland City players ahead of this tournament. Their campaign starts today and of course that will be a tall order, most likely ending in defeat.
But so many of their players have been toiling away at football's coalface for such a long time, and have sacrificed so much to keep their careers going.
The two I spoke with, Angus Kilkolly and Mike Den Heijer, train four nights a week, around their jobs, and give almost all of their free time to football, in pursuit of this moment.
Something to bear in mind tomorrow; there are so many stories in that squad. Getty Images
And here is how Oceania's only representative lines up for its first game: Starting XI: Tracey; Ilich, Mitchell, Boxall, Murati, Lobo; Garriga, Den Heijer; Bevan, Manickum, Yoo. Getty Images
A Bayern debut for Jonathan Tah, then. Vincent Kompany hasn't bowed to the situation at all, naming a stronger side than anyone could have anticipated.
Most media in German predicted an experiment lineup; not a bit of it. Getty Images
A statement of intent from Vincent Kompany who has named a strong team for their opener — here it is: Starting XI: Neuer; Boey, Stanisic, Tah, Guerreiro; Pavlovic, Kimmich; Olise, Muller, Coman; Kane. Getty Images
Last but certainly not least, here are Groups G and H. Two of the tournament favourites lurking within these quartets...
Group G Manchester City (England, UEFA)
Wydad AC (Morocco, CAF)
Al Ain (UAE, AFC)
Juventus (Italy, UEFA)
Group H Real Madrid (Spain, UEFA)
Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia, AFC)
Pachuca (Mexico, Concacaf)
Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, UEFA) Getty Images
Groups E and F are the next pairing, again meaning the winner of Group F will play the runner-up in Group E.
Here is how they look…
Group E River Plate (Argentina, CONMEBOL)
Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan, AFC)
Monterrey (Mexico, Concacaf)
Inter (Italy, UEFA)
Group F Fluminense (Brazil, CONMEBOL)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany, UEFA)
Ulsan Hyundai (South Korea, AFC)
Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa, CAF) Getty Images
Groups C and D are paired together too — meaning the winner of Group C will play the runner-up in Group D and vice versa.
Here is how they look…
Group C Bayern Munich (Germany, UEFA)
Auckland City (New Zealand, OFC)
Boca Juniors (Argentina, CONMEBOL)
Benfica (Portugal, UEFA)
Group D Flamengo (Brazil, CONMEBOL)
ES Tunis (Tunisia, CAF)
Chelsea (England, UEFA)
Los Angeles FC (USA, Concacaf) Getty Images
Let's take you through all eight groups of this revamped Club World Cup, where the top two will progress into the knockout stage and the bottom two will go home.
The groups are in pairs — meaning the winner of Group A will play the runner-up in Group B come the Round of 16. Likewise the winner of Group B will play Group A's runner-up.
If the standings are tied on points, it will come down to head to head records rather than goal difference.
Here are groups A and B…
Group A Al Ahly (Egypt, CAF) Inter Miami (USA, Concacaf) Palmeiras (Brazil, CONMEBOL) Porto (Portugal, UEFA)
Group B Paris Saint-Germain (France, UEFA)
Atletico Madrid (Spain, UEFA)
Botafogo (Brazil, CONMEBOL)
Seattle Sounders (USA, Concacaf) Getty Images
On the big screen at the Hard Rock Stadium, the concentric circles of the Club World Cup spun like the rings of a new planet. FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the master of this universe, called it a 'big bang moment in the history of football,' and it was finally here. Would his new competition explode into life or flame out?
Hours before kick-off, Infantino was already in the ground observing the final preparations for the inaugural game between Al Ahly and Inter Miami. He had ended his cringey call with '90s pop stars Robbie Williams and Laura Pausini on the balcony of his South Beach hotel, in which 'Desire' was announced as the new official FIFA song. On Williams' T-shirt was the slogan 'hopeium'. It sounded like a hallucinogen capable of blocking out the negativity caused by reports of thousands of unsold tickets.
If this really was 'a new era for soccer', as Infantino claimed, it seemed, at least initially, that not many people wanted to be there for it — put off by earlier aggressive ticket pricing and, perhaps, the signalled presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Hard Rock. Some club executives of participating teams were disappointed by the lack of promotional material in cities and airports. Locals seemed confused by the concept. Isn't the World Cup next summer? How is this different?
Read more below Getty Images
The 2025 Club World Cup didn't give us any goals on opening night, but it gave us some pretty good entertainment.
Inter Miami met Egyptian champions Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium and, for the entirety of the first half, it looked like the MLS representative might be embarrassed on the global stage. But Oscar Ustari saved a 43rd-minute penalty and it sparked his side into life.
In the end, Miami left the pitch frustrated with a goalless draw as, led by Lionel Messi, they enjoyed a host of decent late chances. Unfortunately for them, they found Al Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy in inspired form, with his last-minute fingertip save to deny Messi a world-class winner proving to be the highlight.
GO FURTHER
Al Ahly 0, Inter Miami 0 – Messi comes close as 60,000 take in lively Club World Cup opener Getty Images
Get used to being able to enjoy a handful of matches every day for this opening fortnight of the tournament.
After today's quartet of games is out of the way, here is how tomorrow shapes up.
3pm ET Chelsea vs LAFC – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
6pm ET Boca Juniors vs Benfica – Hard Rock Stadium
9pm ET Flamengo vs Esperance de Tunisie – Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia) Getty Images
A super busy day is in store across the United States today for the Club World Cup.
We start here in Cincinnati, go from coast to coast between Los Angeles and New Jersey before finishing Sunday in Seattle — here are the fixtures (all times in ET):
12pm ET Bayern Munich vs Auckland City – TQL Stadium, Cincinnati
3pm ET Paris Saint-Germain vs Atletico Madrid – Rose Bowl, Los Angeles
6pm ET Palmeiras vs Porto – MetLife Stadium, New Jersey
10pm ET Botafogo vs Seattle Sounders – Lumen Field, Seattle