FIFA Club World Cup: Chelsea prepares for resolute Fluminense side in semifinal clash
On May 28, the Blues rallied to a 4-1 win over Real Betis in the UEFA Europa Conference League final.
Domestically, it also secured a fourth-place Premier League finish and a return to the UEFA Champions League next year under first-year manager Enzo Maresca.
After all that, it has looked like one of the fresher European sides in this tournament while reaching the semifinal stage. Perhaps that reflects the benefits of having a youthful core, without a single player on the tournament squad above age 27.
'You can have an advantage or disadvantage -- it depends a bit,' Maresca said, as reported by Football London. 'We have one season together being the youngest in the Premier League, and we were able to win games. Tomorrow, it will be the same. We are the first- or second- youngest in the competition, and we will face the oldest one.'
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While Chelsea will be favoured, Brazilian teams have been the story of this tournament, sending all four of their entrants to the knockout phase and two to the quarterfinals.
Fluminense will be the third team the Blues have faced. Chelsea defeated Palmeiras in the quarterfinals 2-1 on a first-half goal from Cole Palmer -- his non-penalty goal since a 2-2 Premier League draw with Bournemouth on January 14 -- and a late own goal. Before that, it suffered a 3-1 defeat to Flamengo in the group stage.
Comparatively, Fluminense enters in better form than those previous Brazilian foes, unbeaten in 11 across all competitions. While Hercules leads the club with two tournament goals, the strength of head coach Renato Gaucho's side is a defence that has conceded only five times during that unbeaten run, anchored by 44-year-old goalkeeper Fabio.
'With all due respect to Chelsea, we don't want to stop here,' Gaucho told FIFA.com. 'We're going to do all we can psychologically, physically, technically, tactically. We have to put everything into this. A lot of people thought we couldn't do it, but we're in the semifinals.'
Fluminense earlier lost 4-0 to Manchester City in the final of the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup, the last played in its annual, smaller single-elimination format. Chelsea won the competition in 2021, though there are very few carryovers from that squad currently.
Chelsea will miss striker Liam Delap and defender Levi Colwill to yellow-card suspensions, while Fluminense defender Juan Freytes and midfielder Martinelli are also serving one-match bans.
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