Bayern lose to Benfica and finish second in the group.

Vincent Kompany appeared as exhausted by the sweltering heat as his players as he defended the rotation, which he considered absolutely the only option after FC Bayern's first defeat at the Club World Cup. The fact that Munich had to concede group victory to Portugal's record champions due to the avoidable 1-0 (0-1) defeat against Benfica Lisbon and will now face Brazil's top team Flamengo in the round of 16 rather than Chelsea makes no difference to the coach.

"There are no easy knockout rounds," said Kompany. However, Bayern are now arguably on the stronger side of the tournament table. If they advance, they face a huge challenge against Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in the quarterfinals. "Of course they're good. But we've beaten them before," Thomas Müller declared, still confident.

Visibly heated, Kompany spoke in the air-conditioned press room of the Bank of America Stadium about the "very logical decisions" he had made. Seven changes to the starting eleven had a noticeable impact, even though he rejected the term "B-team." Several top players, such as Joshua Kimmich, Harry Kane, and Michael Olise, were rested for at least 45 minutes.

With the second phase of the tournament now beginning, Kompany wanted to avoid a situation where "all the players are dead from playing 90 minutes here in the heat. My goal is to put us in the best possible position for the next game," he said emphatically ahead of the showdown with Flamengo next Sunday (10 p.m./Sat.1 and DAZN). "And a positive result will prove me right," the 39-year-old Belgian hopes.

It's hot in Miami, too. But it's nothing compared to the furnace of the completely open football stadium in Charlotte. "The players had cramps, they were suffering," said Kompany. But it's also true that the completely re-formed eleven, led by new signing and debutant Tom Bischof, had a "rather lackluster first half," as captain Manuel Neuer, who was once again playing well, said.

Only after the break, with Kimmich, Kane, Olise, and later Konrad Laimer and Jonathan Tah, did they "play a completely different kind of football," said Neuer. With more energy – and more quality on the pitch. What was missing were the goals. Laimer hit the post, and Leroy Sané, in particular, was denied several times by the very good Benfica goalkeeper shortly before his Bayern departure.

"Normally, we score a few goals there, that's the truth," Kompany moaned. And then there wouldn't have been so much talk about the decline in quality in the supposedly luxury squad. Kimmich defended the reserve team and Kompany: "It was also about the fact that the coach wants to bring all the players along. It's not enough to just have a good starting eleven. You also need players behind them who function. They also need rhythm."

Was the weak first half perhaps a matter of mentality? Thomas Müller responded to this question with a slightly sulky tone. "Are we in Dortmund now? Do we already have mental problems?" That could be completely forgotten: "We're right on track in terms of our mentality of wanting to win here."

Tournament veterans Müller (35) and Neuer (39) have no doubts about Bayern's future in America. "What happened here is irrelevant," Müller assured: "I know that a knockout round like this is always playing with fire. But I'm convinced we'll be here for some time."

Neuer is also looking ahead "very positively." "If we continue playing like we did in the second half, it will be a very good tournament." Now it's time for the knockout rounds - "and we'll play those big games."

Müller, for whom every game on his farewell tour could well be his very last as a Bayern player, recalled his extensive experience from his time with the national team, the shaky "Algeria game during our glorious World Cup victory" in Brazil in 2014. Only with great difficulty did they advance to the round of 16 against the underdog. Every tournament winner has moments "where things get tight and not everything goes perfectly."

Before Kompany left Charlotte forever, he made a declaration of war: "The first phase of the tournament is over, the second phase begins. And that's a new story. We're going into the game against Flamengo with all our might."