Manchester City’s potential FIFA Club World Cup semi-final opponents revealed | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City players have now found out who they will face in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup, should they qualify.

The Premier League giants cruised their way into the knockout rounds of this summer’s tournament in the United States, scoring 13 goals and conceding just twice during the group stage of the competition.

Winning their tournament opener against Wydad AC via a 2-0 scoreline, City went on to smash past Al Ain in a 6-0 victory, before their statement top-spot decider saw Pep Guardiola’s players put in a 2-5 win to dismiss of Juventus.

The three points secured against the Italian giants also ensured that City would find themselves on the left-hand side of the tournament bracket, meaning they would avoid all of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, and Borussia Dortmund until a Final.

In the last-16, Manchester City will take on Saudi Arabian giants Al-Hilal – who not only boast former Inter manager Simone Inzaghi as their head coach, but also bring about a reunion with Joao Cancelo for the Sky Blues.

As part of the confirmed draw for the knockout stages, Pep Guardiola and his players have also found out their entire route to a potential Final in New York, with Inter and Fluminense awaiting should they defeat Al Hilal.

Following the outcome of matches over the course of the weekend, Manchester City have also found out that should they reach the final-four of the ongoing FIFA Club World Cup, they will take on either Palmeiras or Premier League rivals Chelsea.

A feisty affair between Palmeiras and Botafogo in the last-16 of the competition saw Paulinho score the winning goal in the 100th minute of play having seen a 0-0 score in regulation time take the contest to extra-time.

Gustavo Gomez would have had Palmeiras supporters panicking though, as the central defender received a second yellow card to take his side down to 10-men for the remainder of the action at Lincoln Financial Field.

As for Chelsea, they would play out a five-goal affair against Portuguese giants Benfica at the Bank of America Stadium spread across the course of four hours due to a weather delay as a result of thunderstorms.

An Angel Di Maria penalty in additional time at the end of the 90 minutes would take the contest into extra-time, before Enzo Maresca’s side would take full control with goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.