FIFA Club World Cup Final
Result: Bayern Munich 1-0 Tigres UANL
Date: 11 February 2021
Venue: Education City Stadium
Bayern Munich secured their second FIFA Club World Cup title after defeating Mexican side U.A.N.L Tigres 1-0 in the final on Thursday evening.
Leroy Sane, Lucas Hernandez and Niklas Sule were recalled to the Bayern side as Thomas Muller missed out after testing positive for Covid-19, while Jerome Boateng was excused from the squad for personal reasons.
Joshua Kimmich thought he had opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a smashing strike from outside the box, but the goal was disallowed, as Robert Lewandowski was judged to be blocking the view of goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman in an offside position by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Hans-Dieter Flick's charges were unlucky not to be a goal up with ten minutes left of the first stanza after Sane unleashed a strike from the edge of the box that rattled the near post after a quick corner by Serge Gnabry.
Tigres were growing in the game in the closing phase of the first stanza, denying the German giants chances but they lacked the creativity going forward, although they were the happier side to head to the break goalless.
With the Bavarians putting the Mexican side under all sorts of pressure after the break, Benjamin Pavard finally broke the deadlock on the hour-mark with a simple finish after reacting quickest to a rebound inside the box.
Bayern were looking to kill the game with the second goal as David Alaba came close in the last 17 minutes with a cracking strike from the edge of the box that missed slightly over the bar.
Corentin Tolisso almost sealed the deal for Flick's men eight minutes before time with a strike from outside the box that was destined for the bottom corner but Guzman tipped his effort into the post.
Guzman kept Tigres in the game in the dying minutes with a double save to deny Maxim Choupo-Moting and Kimmich but the Mexican side lacked the quality in the last third to rescue the game as Bayern were crowned champions for the second time after first winning the competition in 2013.
Click through the gallery above to view all the post-match festivities against Al Ahly:
