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Bruno Guimaraes - Profile

The first thing that strikes walking through Abu Dhabi airport as Monday ticks into Tuesday is the number of Palmeiras fans who have made the long trip.

Dark green shirts are everywhere. Passport control, the baggage carousels, the remarkably efficient Covid-19 testing centre is full of excited Brazilians, hopeful of a second world title.

A few hours later it looks like half of Sao Paulo has turned up at the hotel breakfast, one table already working through their songbook more than 10 hours before their semi-final against Al Ahly kicks off.

South American clubs have always treated the Club World Cup more seriously and this is matchday. Yet it does not seem like the restaurant will be decked in blue tomorrow morning.

The windswept corniche is largely deserted save for - you guessed it - a handful of Palmeiras fans taking a little jaunt along the waterfront on rented bicycles and it is hard not to find the whole thing a little unusual.

This is not a Champions League trip, when flights are packed with faces seen before even if the names might not be familiar.

The pandemic will have complicated matters further for those who may have considered travelling – Abu Dhabi boasts of having a 97% vaccination rate but restrictions and regular testing remain in place; do not