Manchester City's desperate CWC exit brings curtain down on poor campaign

Manchester City's exit from the Club World Cup at the hands of Al Hilal on Monday finally brought down the curtain on a poor season for Pep Guardiola's side while confirming that Europe's powerhouses are not having things all their own way at FIFA's new competition.

City had travelled to the United States off the back of a disappointing campaign both in England and in Europe.

They had looked ominous at the Club World Cup, scoring 13 goals en route to being the only team to win all three group matches.

There was promise shown by pre-tournament signings Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki, but City's run abruptly ended with a 4-3 extra-time loss against the Saudi side in Orlando.

But could going out now benefit them in the long run?

"No one wanted to lose, we are very used to not having holidays unfortunately because the schedule is crazy," City's Bernardo Silva told UK media after what was their 61st match since last August.

"But when we are in a competition we take it very seriously and we had a lot of ambition for this Club World Cup and we wanted to win it."

Guardiola said before facing Al Hilal that he understood criticism of the Club World Cup by former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who called the competition "the worst idea ever implemented in football".

"Maybe in November, December or January it will be a disaster, we are exhausted and the World Cup has destroyed us," Guardiola contemplated before facing Al Hilal.

Now City go home almost two weeks before the final, and the time to rest will be precious.

"We would have loved to have continued, you can only be here once every four years, we had a feeling that the team is doing well but we go home and now it is time to rest and rest our minds for the new season," Guardiola said.

There are more than six weeks until City play their opening Premier League game away to Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 16.

That should be ample time for the City players to rest and then ease themselves back in, including Rodri.

The Spanish midfielder was being eased back into action after missing most of the last campaign with injury. He came off the bench against Al Hilal but was substituted in extra time.

"We have to see how Rodri is. He was good but later complained about his situation," Guardiola said.

Al Hilal flex Saudi muscle

City still leave with significant prize money, likely to be around $40 million, for their participation at the Club World Cup.

Their exit means one of the semi-finalists is guaranteed to come from outside Europe, as Al Hilal now face Fluminense in the last four.

Rio de Janeiro outfit Fluminense joined fellow Brazilians Palmeiras in making the quarters when the 2023 Copa Libertadores winners ousted Inter Milan in the last 16 on Monday.

Fluminense have shown they should not be taken lightly, with 40-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea defender Thiago Silva marshalling their back line and Colombian winger Jhon Arias proving one of the players of the tournament.

The narrative, almost since the beginning of the tournament, has been of Brazilian teams appearing most likely to stop what had always seemed an inevitable European triumph.

But the last two years have shown that only a select band of mega-rich clubs in the Saudi Pro League can rival the spending of Europe's elite.

Al Hilal, from the capital Riyadh, are one of several Saudi teams who have been controlled by the Gulf country's oil-funded Public Investment Fund.

They missed out on this year's domestic title to Al Ittihad of Jeddah but are historically Saudi Arabia's most successful team and qualified for the Club World Cup thanks to their AFC Champions League win in 2021.

Simone Inzaghi left Inter Milan to become their coach just before the tournament, taking over a squad full of players lured from leading European teams by the riches on offer.

That makes Inzaghi's post-match comments about having to "climb Everest without oxygen to win the game" seem a little excessive.

Al Hilal must now be favourites against Fluminense, which would clear a path to a semi-final against Chelsea or Palmeiras.