Benfica Thrash Auckland City 6–0 in Club World Cup Match

Benfica defeated Auckland City 6–0 in a dominant performance on Saturday in the Club World Cup, with Ángel Di María and Leandro Barreiro both scoring twice.

The match was delayed for more than two hours due to lightning and thunder after the first half.

Di María, who played alongside Lionel Messi to win the 2022 World Cup for Argentina, scored his first goal from a penalty in first-half injury time. He added his second — and Benfica’s sixth — with another penalty in the final minutes of the match.

“Everything went very well. We are happy to play here,” said Benfica coach Bruno Lage. Although Auckland City tried a few counterattacks in the first half, they couldn’t keep up with the Portuguese powerhouse.

In the second half, Benfica took full control. Vangelis Pavlidis scored in the 53rd minute to make it 2–0. Renato Sanches then added another, followed by two goals from Barreiro to make it 5–0. Di María completed the scoring with his second penalty.

With this win, Benfica now have 4 points in Group C. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich — who had defeated Auckland City 10–0 in their previous game — are set to play Boca Juniors later on Saturday in Miami Gardens.