Atlético de Madrid had the misfortune of playing their first Club World Cup match against the brand new Champions League winner, Paris Saint-Germain. And despite Atleti being a high-profile European club, it's clear there's a big distance to the French side, as they fell 4-0. The following day, Botafogo, the most recent Libertadores champions, beat Seattle Sounders 2-1, which leaves Atleti in the last place: 0 points, like Seattle, but with -4 goal average, while Seattle has -1.
This makes things complicated for Atleti if they want to qualify for round of 16, as only two teams from each group will move to the next round. PSG seems the favourite to be group leader, so the battle will seemingly be between Atleti and Botafogo. However, Simeone's squad has little margin of error, and their next match could be vital.
In the likely scenario that PSG defeats Botafogo in matchday 2 of the group stage, Atlético would still need to beat Seattle Sounders in their next game to secure at least a third place. Then, it would be a direct confrontation between Atleti and Botafogo in the final matchday of the group stage.
The match to follow are the following:
Thursday, 19 June: Seattle Sounders vs. Atlético de Madrid: 23:00 BST (of Thursday), 00:00 CEST (of Friday)
Friday, 20 June: PSG vs. Botafogo: 2:00 BST, 3:00 CEST
In the case that Atleti wins Seattle and PSG wins Botafogo, the big game would be this one:
Monday, 23 June: Atlético de Madrid vs. Botafogo: 20:00 BST, 21:00 CEST
Do you think Atlético will end up qualifying for the round of 16, or will Botafogo take the spot alongside PSG?