Chelsea face nightmare Club World Cup draw following second-half collapse against Flamengo
Enzo Maresca's Blues were outclassed by the Brazilians, going down 3-1 in Philadelphia.
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Enzo Maresca's side were beaten in Philadelphia
Credit: AFP
The defeat means Chelsea are unlikely to win their group, with Flamengo three points and four goals better off.
Maresca's men will still scrape through should they avoid defeat against ES Tunis on Tuesday night.
But even if they do manage to limp on, the West Londoners will face a tough ask in the round of 16.
The runners-up in Chelsea's group will face the winners of Group C in the knockout phase.
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As it stands this would be Harry Kane's Bayern Munich, who have so far beaten Auckland City and Boca Juniors.
The difficult match would take place at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium on June 28.
Bayern could still fail to win their group, however, with Benfica able to pip them if they beat the Bavarians on Tuesday.
Even if Chelsea do manage to advance to the quarter-finals, there's a good chance that European champions Paris Saint-Germain would await them.
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Harry Kane helped Bayern beat Boca Juniors
Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
Luis Enrique's side were stunned 1-0 by Brazilians Botafogo earlier this week.
This has left PSG likely to finish second in Group B.
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Should they do so, the French giants would play the winners of Group A, likely to be Palmeiras or Inter Miami, in the round of 16 - before possibly facing Chelsea.
The Blues initially led against Flamengo, going one up via in-form Pedro Neto.
Everything went wrong in the second half, however, with goals by Bruno Henrique and Danilo turning the match on its head, before Nicolas Jackson was sent off for a reckless challenge.
Wallace Yan's calm finish made the match safe late on, leaving Chelsea with it all to do.
After the match, boss Maresca said of his side's collapse: "It completely changed the game.
"Unfortunately we conceded two goals in a short moment and then the red card and then I think it is complicated to get back into the game.
"We tried – but congratulations to them. They deserved to win.
"We tried to do something different in the game, for next season and for the future."
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