FC Bayern München are on a mission to be crowned the best club team in global football — but to do so they must first get past the current European champions.
After defeating CR Flamengo 4-2 in a thrilling Round-of-16 clash at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, the Bundesliga title winners have set up a blockbuster FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ quarter-final with UEFA Champions League victors Paris Saint-Germain in Atlanta on 5 July.
Bayern's stars are under no illusions about just how tough the game will be, not least after PSG cruised past Inter Miami CF. But the German giants will go into the game with confidence having defeated their French rivals 1-0 in the league phase of the Champions League last November.
"We have to believe (we can win the Club World Cup) for sure. We're going up against a tough opponent in the next round no doubt, Champions League winners," Bayern striker Harry Kane told FIFA. "We have to be ready for that but we feel like on our day we can beat anyone. It would be a dream come true to go all the way and win it but there's games before that."
Kane's sentiments were echoed by his team-mates Manuel Neuer and Leon Goretzka.
"They are the Champions League winner. We faced them one time this season, it was at home," Neuer told FIFA. "Atlanta is a big stadium, a nice stadium. We are looking forward to that game. We will try our best. They have good players in every position but we are prepared because we know them from this season and of course the Champions League final."
Goretzka added: "They are the current Champions League holders. I am sure it will be a fiercely contested match. We've already beaten them once this season so we can go into this match quite confidently. But PSG have some momentum from their Champions League triumph and they won their Round of 16 confidently. It will be a great match."
Both Kane and Goretzka were on the scoresheet in Bayern's rollercoaster victory over Flamengo, with the latter scoring one of the goals of the tournament so far with a long-range rocket to make the score 3-1.
"I was surprised to have that much space when I scored the goal," Goretzka told FIFA. "I was able to control the ball and tried to put some power into the shot. It worked out well, but I guess the keeper wasn't able to see it very well. It was a nice feeling."
Goretzka hailed Bayern's calmness under pressure as Flamengo twice pulled goals back to put themselves in contention to get a result.
"I think we started the match well. It turned out to be just the type of match that we expected," Goretzka added. "It was very intense and there were many 1v1 situations. We were able to win a few balls high up the pitch and scored from that.
"They created the first goal really well, but the second goal was unnecessary from us. We remained calm. It was a heated atmosphere in the stadium, but we kept possession and overall we delivered a good performance."
You can be sure calm heads will also be needed when Bayern take on PSG in Atlanta.