After defeating Santos in dramatic fashion last weekend, the reward for Palmeiras is a Copa Libertadores title and also a ticket to the Club World Cup set to take place in Qatar.
At the moment, Verdão have already travelled to Asia, with final preparations already underway for a big continental tournament.
Liverpool are the current holders of the Club World Cup but a new winner is set to emerge this year. The competition should have held in December as usual but was postponed at the time due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Alongside Palmeiras, Tigres de México, Egyptian outfit Al Ahly and reigning European champions Bayern Munich are the sides in contention for the trophy.
The Club World Cup will take place from the 4th to 11th February.
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at what to expect from Palmeiras, their potential opponents and the players that could well tip the odds in favor of the Brazilian outfit.
Opponents
Palmeiras will go into the Club World Cup as a seeded side and that means they will join in the semi-finals. They will take on Mexican side Tigres UANL who defeated South Korean outfit Ulsan Hyundai by a 2-1 score-line on Thursday. The match will be played on Sunday.
If Verdão go on to beat Tigres UANL, they will face perhaps their biggest test yet when they take on Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
Should they meet Bayern Munich in the finals, they would most likely rely on counter-attacks and goalkeeper Weverton could be crucial as he would no doubt be busy in between the sticks.
Style of play
Palmeiras are well known for their attacking style of play and they will no doubt bring that to the continental competition as well. Dangerous on counter attacks and never shying from long range chances, Abel Ferreira’s men have a lot in their arsenal to go all the way.
For their fixture against Tigres UANL, they will go in as ‘favorites’ but they should expect no walkovers. Every club in this competition are champions in their own regard and we can’t forget that. Tigres have also lost only once in their last nine games across all competitions, winning seven of them. It could well be a tight encounter but one Palmeiras will fancy their chances of winning.
In their quest for glory, some players will be key to their gameplay and we’ll be taking a look at two key names that could be immense for Abel Ferreira and company.
Gabriel Menino
The 20-year-old is one of the top young names in Brazilian football at the moment. Either in the centre or at the right hand side of midfield, Gabriel is always a threat on the ball and he would be a key part of creating goal-scoring chances or that burst of brilliance from midfield.
Luiz Adriano
The veteran forward has well since he arrived from Spartak Moscow in January 2020. He has scored 17 times for Palmeiras since then, with 10 of them coming in the current Brazilian Serie A season. He is just one goal less of the club’s top scorer in the league this term, Raphael Veiga who has 11 goals to his name.
This might be Palmeiras’ first time in the Club World Cup but not the first for Adriano. He has already even won this tournament with International back in 2006 and even scored in the semi-finals against Al Ahly at the time. His experience will come in handy and he is a top name to get in on the goals for Palmeiras in the continental competition.
