ALL to play for in Group B of the Club World Cup | Botafogo, Atlético, PSG, Seattle | Scoreline

PSG, Atleti, those are two of probably the best six or seven club sides in Europe, maybe two of the top ten, if you want to kind of be harsh on Atleti, but this was not expected to happen, what Botafogo has done so far, and all the credit to them.

Have a look at the standings in Group B.

This is how it is at the moment.

You wouldn't have predicted this, I think, before the tournament started.

Botafogo top of the group after two wins from them from their two matches.

PSG did manage to get back into it with a victory to get to three points left of the game.

Madrid on three points as well.

And then Seattle Sounders two defeats from their games so far.

Let's start, Chris, by talking about Botafogo.

Obviously a huge win.

A lot was made.

I think probably the upset or the win of the tournament so far beating the Champions League winners PSG.

And I wanted to talk I guess more generally about these Brazilian sides who've had a lot of success at the Club World Cup.

Obviously you could say that the European teams coming off a really long season need a bit of a break.

That is one factor.

But also is there something about the style of play, the way that these Brazilian teams go about it in league play that's translating well to when they're playing against European teams?

I think there's a few factors here.

First off, I do kind of want to address the fixture congestion idea, which is that European teams have played more.

Brazilian sides have actually played.

If you measure it over the last 12 months, some of the Brazilian teams have played more than 70 games in the last 12 months because these are sides that play in a 38-game league season in cup, in the retorres, in state championships as well.

So these are incredibly busy clubs.

And you look at the level of success.

You talk about a few things here.

One is, of course, the talent base.

You're a club in Brazil and Europe cannot scout everyone.

And also, Brazilian clubs are very well resourced.

There are clubs that are now owned by John Texter, obviously in the case of Botafogo, but others as well that have money that can keep going.

good level players away from MLS, away from Europe, and convince some players to come back as well after their times in Europe and perform well for Brazilian clubs.

So there's just a character of Brazilian football that obviously has the level to compete at the very highest level, especially when, and this is the last thing I think is worth noting, there is that sort of intangible, if cliche, motivational factor.

meaning the European sides, we've talked about it a lot, are they fully up for it?

Surely they're partly up for it because of the money on offer, because it is a prestigious competition because you want to be the champion of the world, but South American sides properly get up for it because this is their one chance to prove on a stage like this in competitive games that they are of the level, that they could compete with major European clubs, and they are doing it so far.

These are the scenarios for them to go through, either a win or a draw, and they advance.

As long as they don't lose...

By three or more goals to Atletico Madrid, they will not be vulnerable to get eliminated.

So that is the big goal here for Botafogo, to advance and to have shown well at this tournament, especially in the group where you go PSG-Atleti.

Those are two of probably the best six or seven club sides in Europe, maybe two of the top ten, if you want to kind of be harsh on Atleti.

But this was not expected to happen, what Botafogo has done so far, and all the credit to them.

And Atleti will be looking at that group and seeing themselves down in third going into this game.

How do you assess their competition so far?

And have they got a chance of beating Botafogo in that final game?

I think so.

I think you look at the level of talent that's in this Atleti side.

I thought they showed themselves very well in the Seattle game.

I thought that they were

frankly, unlucky to have not gotten even more goals from that game.

I think the performance against PSG was a bit of a one-off.

You still believe that this side is resolute and solid.

You know that, particularly up front with Sordot and with Alvarez and with Griezmann and in wide areas with Simeone and Lino, that this is a side that can perform up to a really, really good level.

So I think if they win, and they'll have to pour it on against Botafogo to advance.

Yeah, they need goals, don't they?

Yes, they do.

They will need to win by at least three if PSG were to beat Seattle.

And I think that's a scenario where you're looking at, you're going, I mean, I don't know if Atleti kind of have it in their constitution to fully go for it.

When they do, they kind of do it for short periods.

So I'd be curious how they manage it.

But all of a sudden, they find themselves in a position where they're going to have to not only win, but win big against Botafogo.

I think they can do it.

But Botafogo will obviously be as resolute as they were in the PSG game to try and defend for long periods and make sure that they're not going to be beaten by the margin that knocks them out of the tournament.

Yeah, it's going to be a really interesting game, that one.

As for PSG, do you think they're going to be out there to try and prove, I mean, I know they're only playing Seattle Sounders and obviously they're heavy favorites going into that one and you'd feel they should win that one fairly comfortably, but they're out to prove that that Botafogo game was just a blip, aren't they?

Yeah, I think for PSG, first off, let's also understand that it probably was just a blip.

It was a game where Portofogo scored a deflected goal, and it just wasn't working for them on the night.

And by the end of the game, I think one of the things you see that man there, Vitinha, celebrating a goal in the first game, was hitting pot shots from 30 yards.

That's not...

we're used to seeing from psg i think they were just really frustrated on the night and that ultimately i would be a little terrified if i were seattle sounders going into this game all psg have to do is win you know that there is a massive talent gap a massive playing gap between these two sides and i think it will prove to be just a blip and they could easily go on to win this competition anyway i think that result feels like a one-off it feels like in retrospect what saudi arabia beating argentina at the last world cup was which is

A result that'll look like, wait, that really happened?

In the midst of ultimately a long run in the tournament.

That's my feeling about what's going to happen.

I think just the biggest thing for PSG is regaining that fluidity in the attack that we saw in the Champions League final, that we saw for most of the Champions League period, and of course in that first game of the group against Atlético.

So I think for PSG, they just have to get back to what they do because we know at their best that they're better than everyone.

Yes, the kind of result you see in group stages that you're not going to see later on in the knockouts.

As for Seattle Sounders, I think we're all in agreement that they're going to be heading home after this one.

But for them, has this competition been a learning experience, obviously a chance to test themselves in what was, I suppose, from their perspective, the group of death?

I think so.

I think it certainly is a pretty valuable lesson for a bunch of players.

Let's also understand that Seattle is not at full strength right now.

They have missing options in defense and up front as well, players that are coming back to full fitness.

So this was not the best punch from Seattle Sounders.

But that said, I wonder if – obviously Seattle has been a trailblazer in MLS for the crowds that they've drawn, for winning the CONCACAF Champions Cup for the first time.

But I wonder if maybe this is an understanding now that they're even –

more and more levels to arrive to, even against Botafogo.

You're talking about Atleti.

If they're going to be back here again in four years' time by winning the CONCACAF competitions, I think they're going to have to do so by strengthening even more, by adding even more talent, by understanding that this is your one big chance.

But I'm not certain that Seattle was in a position to throw their best punch.

That being said, the people that have watched them in person, the people that maybe would not have been used to seeing Seattle Sounders that I've seen online have said fair credit to them.

They were, I think, the better team in the second half against Botafogo.

Ultimately lost the game.

And they had periods against Atleti as well where they played.

They played some decent stuff.

So I think Seattle kind of are the moral victors of the tournament.

Probably for a team that will end up leaving the tournament with zero points.

But I still think that...

There's a little bit left for them to have maybe done here.

I think themselves and LAFC will go, oh man, if we just maybe added one or two more players or had a few more players healthy as well, maybe we could have done something of a little bit more impact.

But ultimately, they were completely odds against in this group, considering it's the reigning South American champions, the reigning European champions, and a damn good team in Atletico Madrid.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how they get on in that final game.

And we can show you what we've got to look forward to on Monday.

Once more, Atletico against Portofogo and Seattle against PSG.

That's at 3 p.m. Eastern, both of those games.

And then you've got Porto against Al-Ali and Inter Miami against Palmeiras.

Both of those in Group A are the 9 p.m. games.

And you can scan that QR code on the left of the screen there to buy tickets.