Manchester City's Club World Cup inauguration takes place at King Abdullah Sports City on Tuesday night, as Japanese outfit Urawa Red Diamonds await the Citizens' arrival for their semi-final tie.
While Pep Guardiola's men enter their maiden Club World Cup tournament in the final four, Urawa were forced to see off Mexican outfit Leon to set up a glamour tie with the European champions.
Match preview
Even before clinching their third AFC Champions League crown by defeating Al-Hilal over their two-legged final, Urawa Red Diamonds ensured a place in the 2023 Club World Cup simply by reaching the showpiece match, as the runners-up would have been invited in place of Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad.
The Red Devils unsurprisingly did not rest on their laurels as they triumphed on the continent, thus setting up a second-round Club World Cup showdown against tournament debutants and CONCACAF Champions League winners Leon in front of a measly 2,500-strong Jeddah crowd.
The lack of atmosphere did not hamper Maciej Skorza's side on their road to glory, though, as Alex Schalk - once of Scottish Premiership side Ross County - scored the winning goal off the bench in the 78th minute, and the Dutch striker even spurned a couple of chances to add to his side's advantage in the closing stages.
Urawa's task was made easier when Leon captain William Tesillo took the walk of shame for a pair of bookable offences, as the Japanese crop advanced to their second semi-final from three Club World Cup appearances, having also been present at the 2007 and 2017 events and taking third place in the former tournament.
Skorza's side would have welcomed a break from domestic and continental duties for a Saudi Arabian sojourn, as their defence of their AFC Champions League crown ended in the group stage earlier this month, and victory over Leon marked just a third win from 10 games for the Red Devils in all tournaments.
Manchester City's predicament is not quite so dire, but the Citizens have struggled to heighten the Christmas spirits of the Etihad faithful as the days get shorter and dropped points for the fifth time in six Premier League matches during Saturday's visit of Crystal Palace.
Eagles boss Roy Hodgson deployed every single one of his troops behind the ball from the first whistle, but their efforts would seemingly prove futile when Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis sent the champions two goals ahead, only for Jean-Philippe Mateta's tap-in and Michael Olise's injury-time penalty to leave Guardiola's men shell-shocked.
Guardiola was under no illusions that City were the architects of their own downfall on Saturday, having squandered an abundance of opportunities to put the tie to bed, and the treble winners' record now reads just a paltry three wins from eight games ahead of their Club World Cup baptism.
Man City will be vying for international glory for the first time owing to their long-awaited Champions League triumph in 2022-23, but there may have been an awkward atmosphere on the aircraft as the Citizens flew straight out to the Middle East after Saturday's draw, which also marked their eighth game in a row without a clean sheet.
Nevertheless, the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup holders touch down in Saudi Arabia as the firm favourites to add a new honour to their collection, although an Al Ahly or Fluminense-sized test will await them in the final if they can take care of business on Tuesday.
Team News
Urawa's semi-final victory against Leon came at quite a cost for the Red Devils, as left-back Takahiro Akimoto, right-back Takahiro Sekine and winger Tomoaki Okubo were all forced off in the second half of Friday's game with injuries of an unspecified nature.
Thankfully for Skorza, his full-back ranks are well-stocked at the minute, and former Marseille defender Hiroki Sakai - who has recently made a full recovery from a knee injury - could now be called upon to deputise for Sekine at the back.
Matchwinner Schalk made his presence well and truly felt in his brief cameo appearance on Friday and will be Skorza's first-choice replacement for Okubo, and he ought to be joined in the final third by Jose Kante, who will hang up his boots at the end of the current campaign.
Man City boss Guardiola also has a trio of injury concerns to manage for the semi-final, as Kevin De Bruyne has missed three months of action with his hamstring problem, while Erling Haaland (foot) and Jeremy Doku (muscle) were also absent from the draw with Palace at the weekend.
De Bruyne has been out on the training pitches in Saudi Arabia, but neither Doku nor Haaland will make the cut, allowing Julian Alvarez another opportunity to impress as City's main marksman.
Guardiola limited himself to just one in-game change on Saturday, but the Catalan coach should not hesitate to ring the changes for the semi-final, offering hope to all of Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic, Kalvin Phillips and Stefan Ortega.
Urawa Red Diamonds possible starting lineup:
Nishikawa; Sakai, Scholz, Hoibraten, Ogiwara; Iwao, Ito; Schalk, Yasui, Koizumi; Kante
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gomez; Nunes, Kovacic; Bobb, Silva, Grealish; Alvarez
We say: Urawa Red Diamonds 0-3 Manchester City
Guardiola can be expected to put out a second-string XI with minimal recuperation time and jet lag coming into play, but even an experimental side should encounter few roadblocks en route to the Club World Cup final.
The Urawa underdogs have nothing to lose on Tuesday and were unfortunate not to prevail by more against Leon, but getting one over a Man City side - who are often a difficult beast to tame after a dissatisfactory result - should be a bridge too far.
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