British newspaper 'shocked' because Man City was defeated by Asian representative, Inter Milan also left the game

The FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ is witnessing a series of surprises as two powerful European representatives, Inter Milan and Man City, both suffered defeat and left the competition early in the round of 16 on the morning of July 1.

Man City lost painfully

After an easy group stage, Man City will face the second-placed team in Group H, Al-Hilal. Notably, this is the only representative of Asia to participate in the round of 16. Before that, despite being in a difficult group, Al-Hilal created a surprise when drawing with Real Madrid and Salzburg. With strong investment and many stars who have fought in Europe such as Savic, Yassine Bounou and Ruben Neves, coach Simone Inzaghi declared that Al-Hilal will surprise Man City.

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Entering the match at Camping World Stadium, Al-Hilal played proactively. Despite being underestimated, the Saudi Arabian team was still confident in holding the ball and deploying familiar attacking tactics. During the official match, Al-Hilal held Man City to a 2-2 draw and dragged the match into extra time. The goalscorers for Al-Hilal were Marcos Leonardo and Malcom. On the opposite side, Bernardo Silva and Haaland were the players who scored for Man City.

Al-Hilal surprises Man City with beautiful attacking style

PHOTO: REUTERS

It seemed that with the depth of the squad, Man City would have an easy victory in extra time, but the unthinkable scenario happened. In the 94th minute, Al-Hilal continued to take the lead against Man City 3-2 thanks to a goal by former Chelsea midfielder Kalidou Koulibaly. Although Phil Foden equalized 3-3 for Man City in the 104th minute, in the 112th minute, Marcos Leonardo once again scored, sealing a surprising 4-3 victory for Al-Hilal.

Losing 3-4 to Al-Hilal, Man City was officially eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™. European media assessed that this defeat will greatly affect the mentality and ambition of Man City players in the 2025 - 2026 season.

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The Guardian commented: “To be honest, our journalists were shocked. Over the past few years, we have seen big stars come to Saudi Arabia and everyone asked why. Many people have said that the level of football has gone down, but after this victory of Al-Hilal against Man City, everyone woke up. All the money Al-Hilal spent helped them overcome a team that has dominated Europe for the past decade, Man City. Man City may not have won the treble last season, but they are still very strong.

This is clearly a victory that will resound around the world ... Saudi Arabia really does not joke with football. At the same time, the defeat also reminded Man City and coach Pep Guardiola that they are not strong at all, and have to improve a lot in the new season."

Painful defeat for Man City's ambitions ahead of new season

PHOTO: REUTERS

Having overcome Man City in an unbelievable scenario, Al-Hilal will face the “dark horse” Fluminense in the quarter-finals. In the round of 16, Fluminense also created a surprise when they sent another European giant, Inter Milan, out of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ with a 2-0 victory. Germán Cano and Hércules were the players who brought joy to the Brazilian representative with goals in the 3rd and 90+3 minutes respectively.

Watch FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ live and only in Vietnam on FPT Play, at http://fptplay.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bao-anh-soc-vi-man-city-bi-dai-dien-chau-a-quat-nga-inter-milan-cung-roi-cuoc-choi-185250701112340348.htm