Overview
Urawa Red Diamonds and Man City met in the second semi-final of the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup. In the first semi-final, Brazil's representative Fluminense defeated Egypt's Al Ahly and waited for their opponent in the final.
This is only the second match between a Japanese club and an English club, after Man United's 5-3 victory in the FIFA Club World Cup semi-finals over Gamba Osaka in 2008. In fact, Asian clubs have lost all 13 previous matches at the FIFA Club World Cup against European representatives, conceding 41 goals (3.2 goals/match). Urawa Red Diamonds lost 0-1 to AC Milan in the tournament in 2007.
While Urawa has participated in the FIFA Club World Cup for the third time, this is Man City's first time in this arena. Pep Guardiola's team became the fourth English club to participate in the tournament after Man United, Liverpool and Chelsea.
European sides have won all 20 of their most recent matches at the FIFA Club World Cup, a streak that has dragged on since Chelsea's 2012 defeat to Corinthians. However, 3 out of 4 losses at the FIFA Club World Cup by European clubs have belonged to English representatives. Specifically, Vasco da Gama beat Man United 3-1 in 2000, Sao Paulo beat Liverpool 1-0 in 2005 and Corinthians beat Chelsea 1-0 in 2012.
This will be the fourth time coach Pep Guardiola has participated in the FIFA Club World Cup as a coach. In all three previous appearances, the Spaniard won the championship with Barcelona (2009, 2011) and Bayern Munich (2013). Specifically, Pep has won all 6 matches in this tournament.
Form
Man City entered this match after a period of declining performance, winning only 3 out of the last 8 matches. Dates with Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Crystal Palace as well as defeats against Aston Villa showed that The Citizens' weaknesses are gradually coming to light. Notably, striker Erling Haaland has been absent for the last 3 matches.
The 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at the Etihad saw Man City equalize in the 95th minute. Before that, The Citizens had a 2-goal lead early thanks to Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis but could not maintain the advantage.
On the other side of the front line, Urawa Reds are also not in good form. The Japanese club have won (6) and lost (3) in their last 10 matches in all competitions. However, they won 1-0 against Mexico's Leon in the second round of the FIFA Club World Cup.
In that match, Alex Schalk became the first Dutch player to score in the tournament, since Romeo Castelen in 2014.
Expected lineup:
Urawa Reds: Nishikawa; Sakai, Scholz, Hoibraten, Ogiwara; Iwao, Ito; Schalk, Yasui, Koizumi; Kante.
Man City: Ortega; Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gomez; Nunes, Kovacic; Bobb, Silva, Grealish; Alvarez.
The match between Urawa Red Diamonds and Man City takes place at 1:00 am on December 20 (Vietnam time).
