Amidst the "Fire Mountain", Benfica defeated Bayern Munich for the first time

Historic victory in sweltering heat

The match took place at 3 p.m. local time at Bank of America Stadium. The high temperature outside clearly affected the quality of play of both teams.

The referee was forced to call two cooling breaks, once in the 30th minute and again in the second half, as players had to pour water over themselves and wrap themselves in cold towels to cope with the intense heat.

However, Benfica took advantage of the opportunity. In the 13th minute, Fredrik Aursnes skillfully dribbled the ball down the right wing and crossed for Andreas Schjelderup to finish with one touch, defeating the Bayern goalkeeper and scoring the only goal of the match.

Bayern rotates squad, Benfica defends excellently

With a place in the round of 16 already secured, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany made seven changes to the starting lineup compared to the 2-1 win over Boca Juniors.

However, after a lackluster first half, he was forced to bring on key players like Harry Kane, Joshua Kimmich and Michael Olise early in the second half to boost the attack.

Kimmich thought he had equalised with a low shot from outside the box, but the goal was ruled out as Kane was offside and obstructed the view of goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.

Meanwhile, Leroy Sané and Aleksandar Pavlovic both had clear chances but could not beat Trubin – who was voted Man of the Match.

“We played better in the second half. But if you don’t take your chances, you pay the price,” said Kompany. “The positive thing is that we probably won’t have to play another game in Charlotte.”

Trubin and Di Maria, the silent heroes

Anatoliy Trubin was a worthy hero for Benfica. He made at least three quality saves to deny Sané and Pavlovic, helping the Portuguese side maintain a slim lead.

Meanwhile, at the age of 37, Angel Di Maria continued to show his class. He was the one who initiated the move that led to the only goal and received a warm applause from the audience when he left the field at the end of the second half.

After this tournament, Di Maria will leave Benfica to return to Rosario Central (Argentina), his boyhood team.

Deciding the situation of Group C

With this result, Benfica tops Group C and will continue to stay in Charlotte to play the round of 16 on June 28, against the second team in Group D. Meanwhile, Bayern finished second in the group and will face Flamengo - the top team in Group D - on June 29 at another location.

Notable Statistics

This is Benfica's first win against Bayern Munich in official confrontation history (before that, they drew 3 and lost 10).

Bayern have lost just four of their 29 games in all competitions since the start of 2025.

The match recorded the highest playing temperature since the beginning of the Club World Cup 2025, reaching 36°C.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/giua-hoa-diem-son-benfica-lan-dau-danh-bai-bayern-munich-145757.html