Chelsea qualifies for the second time in the group but grabs the top signing, and it is easy to enter the semi-finals

On the morning of June 27, the third round of the 2025 Club World Cup group stage ended the final two games. Real Madrid 3-0 beat Salzburg Red Bull to lock in Group H and fell into the lower half. Riyadh Crescent won the second place in the group after defeating Pachuka 2-0. At this point, all the top 16 matches in the Club World Cup were released. For the Premier League Blues Chelsea, qualifying in the second place in the group was a blessing in disguise, and he got a lottery that was so good that he could not be better.

In this club World Cup group stage, Chelsea beat Los Angeles 2-0 in the first round and got a good start, but lost 1-3 to Flamenco in the second round. Although he defeated Tunisia Hope 3-0 in the last round, with Flamengo defeating Los Angeles and winning an unbeaten record of 2 wins and 1 draw, Chelsea could only qualify for the second place in the group. However, I guess the Blue Army himself would never have imagined that he would be blessed in disguise.

Judging from the situation of the round of 16, Chelsea has only two European teams, Inter Milan and Manchester City. Their opponent in the top 16 is Benfica from the Portuguese Super League. Although the latter defeated Bayern and advanced to the top in the group stage, there is still a certain gap in overall strength compared to Chelsea. After winning Benfica, Chelsea's quarter-finals opponents are the winners of two Brazilian teams Botafogo and Palmeiras. Palmeiras only beat Cairo Nationals in the group stage, and could only draw against Porto and Miami International, and his overall combat capability could only be considered average.

Botafogo defeated the new European treble champion Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the group stage. After losing to Atletico Madrid in the last round, he won the second place in the group with a goal difference advantage in the mutual game. However, judging from the three-round group stage, Paris Saint-Germain lost to them was obviously suspected of making a game, and the purpose was to dig a hole for Atletico Madrid. In the end, Atletico Madrid was really cheated back to its hometown. From this point of view, Botafogo's overall strength is not very strong either.

In other words, after Chelsea enters the quarterfinals, no matter whether the opponent is Botafogo or Palmeiras, it is not a big problem to win the opponent with normal performance. The semi-finals of the Club World Cup are a relaxing and comfortable process for them. Of course, after entering the semi-finals, Chelsea will most likely meet the Premier League miser Manchester City. In the Premier League last season, Manchester City, whose lineup was not in order, was beaten everywhere, still completed a double-kill against Chelsea, and they all won completely, with a clear advantage on the field.

Now, Manchester City has regained its vitality through a large number of signings. The 5-2 victory over Serie A giant Juventus in the last round of the Club World Cup group stage is a good proof. When facing such a fully-sized Manchester City, the Blues' good luck is probably over.