Andreas Schjelderup Fires Benfica Past Bayern Munich in Scorching Heat to Top Club World Cup Group C
Benfica’s Andreas Schjelderup scored in the first half on a sweltering Tuesday afternoon, securing a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich and helping the Portuguese side finish top of Group C in the Club World Cup.
This was Benfica’s first-ever win over Bayern. With this result, they’ll now face either Chelsea or Espérance de Tunis in the Round of 16. Bayern, finishing second in the group, are set to take on Group D leaders Flamengo.
“I don’t think our first half was good at all,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany admitted to DAZN. “The heat and the pitch made it tough. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be smooth like usual. That’s football—when you don’t take your chances, you pay the price… The game against Flamengo is going to be tough. We know we can create chances.”
The only goal of the match came in the 13th minute, when Schjelderup capitalized on a slip in Bayern’s defense and struck home a first-time finish from Frederik Aursnes’ low cross from the right.
Although Bayern had already qualified for the next stage, their rotated lineup looked sluggish and lacked sharpness. They showed improvement in the second half, and Joshua Kimmich thought he had equalized—only for the goal to be disallowed due to Harry Kane being offside.
Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin played a crucial role in preserving the lead, pulling off brilliant saves to deny both Aleksandar Pavlović and Leroy Sané.
“It was a good game against a great team,” said Trubin, who was named Man of the Match. “It wasn’t just me—it was a full team effort. It was extremely hot, but we got the job done.”
Benfica manager Bruno Lage said his squad entered the game with full confidence, despite the club’s record against Bayern—no wins, three draws, and ten losses.
“We had a great first half and created excellent chances,” Lage said. “We wanted to be aggressive, and we ended up topping the group—that’s a great feeling. Finishing first means a lot to us. People need to start believing in our work.”
“They were all talking about Boca needing a big win to advance, and they completely overlooked this match.”
“No one believed we could beat Bayern.”