Preview of the Club World Cup Top 16, Messi fights Paris Saint-Germain, European and American powerhouses have three matches

With Real Madrid and Riyadh Crescent defeating Salzburg and Pachuca one after another, the two teams advanced to the Club World Cup knockout stage, and the list of the top 16 was also announced. In the next quarterfinals, Real Madrid will face Juventus while Messi will face former former owner Paris Saint-Germain at Miami International.

This Paris Saint-Germain vs. Miami International is undoubtedly the most eye-catching battle in the quarterfinals. After Messi left Paris to join Miami International, he publicly criticized his old club many times, thus becoming a "thorn in the eyes" in the hearts of Paris fans. His last season in Paris, he just helped the Argentine national team win the World Cup championship when he encountered booing from Paris fans. Messi is very likely to feel the pressure of booing again when facing the old master in the first round.

Miami International, as the first team in the Club World Cup, performed extremely well. It remained unbeaten in three games in the group stage and even defeated Porto, becoming the first American League team to defeat European powerhouses in official international competitions. In contrast, Paris Saint-Germain, the new Champions League champion, has some fluctuations in its form. After defeating Atletico Madrid 4-0 in the first game, it lost to Bottafogo 0 0.

If Messi can score against Paris, he will increase his goals in the Club World Cup to 7, tying Ronaldo, who is the top scorer in the historical scorer list. It is worth mentioning that Messi had previously faced Paris 10 times, scoring 6 goals and contributing 1 assist.

In this Club World Cup, three European and American matches were also eye-catching: Inter Milan vs. Frumenense, Flamenco vs. Bayern Munich, and Dortmund vs. Monterrey. The Brazilian team performed strongly overall, with four teams achieving excellent results of 6 wins, 5 draws and 1 loss in the group stage.

In five European and American matches, the Brazilian team had a slight advantage with 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, with Botafogo defeating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0, and Flamenco defeating Chelsea 3-1. Palmeiras played 0-0 with Porto, Fruminense also tied Dortmund 0-0, while Botafogo lost to Atletico Madrid 0-1, which was the only game in the group stage where Brazil lost to European teams.

Flamengo performed well in the group stage under the coaching of Felipe, remained unbeaten in three games and defeated Chelsea 3-1. In contrast, although Bayern maintained a complete victory in the first two games and scored 12 goals, he lost to Benfica 0-1 in the last game.

Inter Milan and Fruminense were a match between two unbeaten strong teams. Inter Milan recorded 2 wins and 1 draw in the group stage, while Fruminense had 1 win and 2 draws, and successfully defeated Dortmund in a clean sheet.

Another European and American showdown, Dortmund faces Monterrey. Both teams did not lose in the group stage, Monterrey tied Inter Milan and River Plate in succession, conceding only 1 goal in two games; Dortmund first played against Fruminense, and then won two consecutive games. One of the highlights of this game is whether Ramos can break through Dortmund's goal. It is worth reviewing that in the 2012-13 Champions League semi-finals, Ramos scored a key goal to help Real Madrid eliminate Dortmund.

are both duels between Brazilian teams, and the "Brazil Civil War" between Palmeiras and Flamenco has also attracted much attention. This game not only locked at least one Brazilian team to advance to the quarterfinals, but also had a strong controversy. After Palmeiras won the Brazilian League championship in 2023, Botafogo boss Text once accused the Brazilian League of match manipulation and submitted "100% conclusive" evidence to the police, saying that Palmeiras had benefited from such behavior.

Nevertheless, Botafogo remained unbeaten in the last five matches between the two sides, with a 3 win and 2 draw, including a two-leg victory in the 2024 Copa Libertadores Eighth Finals. Palmeiras' last defeat of his opponent dates back to November 2, 2023, when they narrowly won 4-3 away.

Another matchup that reappears from old European news is Benfica vs. Chelsea, which will be a replica of the UEFA Cup final. In the 2012-13 Europa League final, Torres took the lead for Chelsea, Cardoso equalized the score, and Ivanovic scored the winning goal in the third minute of stoppage time, helping Chelsea win the UEFA Cup for the first time. In the previous 2011-12 Champions League quarter-finals, Chelsea defeated Benfica both home and away, and finally won the championship. Chelsea has won three matches with Benfica so far, which is also the first time the two teams have met in the Club World Cup. Chelsea is expected to continue their unbeaten record against Benfica.

The showdown between Real Madrid and Juventus recreates the classic scene of the 2016-17 Champions League final, where Real Madrid defeated Juventus 4-1 to win the cup. This is also the first time the two teams have played since the quarterfinals of the Champions League in 2018. Ronaldo scored a stunning barb goal at home that year. The two sides have had 21 matches in history, and Real Madrid has a slight advantage with 11 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses, scoring 29 goals and conceding 26 goals. However, in the last 10 matches, Real Madrid has only won 3 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses. It is worth noting that Real Madrid has successfully advanced in the last three knockout matches, and Juventus' last elimination of Real Madrid can be traced back to the 2004-05 season.

If Mbappe can make a comeback, this will be his fifth time facing Juventus. In the past four matches, Mbappe scored 4 goals and contributed 1 assist, and has scored goals in the last three games, with a total of 4 goals. It is worth mentioning that Mbappe has not made a debut in the Club World Cup before.

As the only team in this year's group stage, Manchester City won all three games, scoring 13 goals and conceded only 2 goals, and defeated Al Ain 6-0. Since 2023, Manchester City has won all five games in the Club World Cup. Riyadh Crescent, the only representative of Asia, performed well, tied European powerhouses Real Madrid and Salzburg in succession, and finally defeated Pachuca, maintaining unbeaten in three group matches and conceded only 1 goal.

Guardiola has been signing Cancelo since 2019, who set a record transfer fee for right-back with £60 million. But as Guardiola initiated Rico Lewis to replace Cancelo, the relationship between the two took a sharp turn, and Cancelo was eventually left on loan. After leaving the team, Guardiola publicly criticized Cancelo, saying that he was dissatisfied with his teammates' playing time. Cancelo strongly denied it, refuting, saying, "This is a lie. I have never been unfriendly to anyone. You can ask Ak and Rico Lewis. I have no sense of superiority and no self-esteem."

Overall, the Club World Cup knockout round has been fully launched, and European, South America, North America and Asian powerhouses will compete fiercely, and the wonderful showdown is about to begin.