It will be a real miracle for Auckland City if the New Zealand-based outfit manages to keep the scoreline at 6-0 against Bayern Munich.
Few can argue this is a genuine humiliation for the Northern League side, given the quite clear disparity in quality between the two sides.
Vincent Kompany’s men dominated their opposition with a brutal display of class in the first 45 of their opening Club World Cup encounter.
Michael Olise and Kingsley Coman, in particular, set the standards with seven goal contributions between them (at the time of writing).
Vincent Kompany demands highest standards from Bayern
If any fans were unconvinced by how seriously the former Man City star-turned-coach is taking this competition, they only need to look at the starting-XI the Belgian put out.
Bayern legends in Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Muller were included in a star-studded first-XI that put Paul Posa’s side to the sword.
Even with the Bavarian giants 6-0 up with 54 minutes on the clock, BBC Sport spotted Kompany doing everything he could to keep standards high.
The ex-Burnley boss was on his feet in the technical area, encouraging his players to keep pressing despite possessing an unassailable lead against amateur opposition.
Bayern Munich set the tone in the Club World Cup
FC Bayern have (and will continue to) already faced some criticism with the decision to field a strong team on the opening day.
But can we really blame Vincent Kompany’s men for taking this competition seriously when there’s as much as €108.1m [£92m] on offer for the eventual champions (Al Jazeera).
Given the club’s clear need to raise funds in order to pursue top targets, like Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams, a strong performance in the Club World Cup is arguably a necessity.
Given the quality of the opposition in Auckland City, of course, this may not be the kind of result to get the rest of Europe sweating.
But it’s the perfect opportunity for Kompany to set the tone and expectations early on in the competition.
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