Honestly, I don’t get why people are always saying Flamengo vs Bayern was a no-brainer for Bayern to win. I mean, sure, Bayern’s got all these big-name players like Harry Kane and Neuer, but Flamengo’s not some random club either. They literally beat Chelsea 3-1 earlier in the Club World Cup, and anybody who saw that match knows Flamengo can step it up when it matters.

From watching the highlights, Gerson scored and their attack was actually way more dangerous than people think. And yeah, Bayern ended up winning 4-2, but it wasn’t like Flamengo just rolled over or something. They had moments where it felt like they could tie it, and if Pulgar didn’t score that own goal, who knows how the game would’ve gone?

I feel like everyone acts like European teams always beat South American ones, but that’s not totally true in these tournaments. Flamengo was missing a key player after Pulgar’s injury, which definitely made things harder, but they still scored twice against Bayern. In my opinion, Bayern deserved to win that day, but Flamengo were way closer than people give them credit for. Don’t count them out next time.