After Bayern Munich's overwhelming 10-0 victory over Auckland City, Boca and Benfica will close out the first matchday of Group C. With the Bavarians possibly taking first place, both teams need to secure a good result in this opening fixture if they want to keep their hopes alive to continue in the Club World Cup.
Boca comes into this match after almost a month of inactivity, since its last official match was against Independiente in the quarterfinals of the Torneo Apertura. Back then, it lost 1-0 at home with a goal by Angulo and it was the last match for Mariano Herrón as interim coach before the arrival of Miguel Ángel Russo, who will officially begin his tenure today.
Boca no pudo cumplir el único objetivo importante de la primera parte del año
Meanwhile, Benfica is coming off a 3-1 defeat in the final of the Portuguese Cup at the hands of Sporting de Lisboa, with whom it also ended up losing the league by just 2 points. With these results, it still hasn't secured its place in international competitions, since it will have to play the Champions League qualifying round.
Benfica también viene con una racha negativa
Regarding their head-to-head record, Argentinians and Portuguese have played five matches, all of them friendlies, of which Boca won one (1953) and the other four ended in draws. The last meeting between the two was 30 years ago, in the 1995 Parmalat Cup, with a Xeneize victory on penalties by 3-2 after a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
Boca y Benfica no juegan entre sí hace 30 años
Time and TV
Boca and Benfica will close out the first matchday of Group C starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The match will be broadcast by DSports, Telefe, Disney+ Premium, and DAZN, the latter offering it completely free of charge on its official website.
Possible Lineups
Boca (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Agustín Marchesín
Defenders: Lucas Blondel or Luis Advíncula, Nicolás Figal, Marcos Rojo, and Lautaro Blanco
Midfielders: Kevin Zenón, Williams Alarcón or Ander Herrera, Milton Delgado, Alan Velasco or Malcom Braida
Forwards: Carlos Palacios and Miguel Merentiel
Benfica (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Anatoliy Trubin
Defenders: Samuel Dahl, Nicolás Otamendi, António Silva, Álvaro Carreras
Midfielders: Orkun Kökçü, Fredrik Aursnes, and Florentino Luis
Forwards: Vangelis Pavlidis, Kerem Aktürkoğlu, and Ángel Di María
Referee Team
Referee: César Arturo Ramos (MEX)
Assistant referee 1: Alberto Morín Méndez (MEX)
Assistant referee 2: Marco Antonio Bisguerra Mendiola (MEX)
