After battling hard to equalise in their first Club World Cup match, Benfica will look to take maximum points against Group C underdogs Auckland City in Orlando on Friday. The Portuguese giants snatched a point from Boca Juniors in the opening round, while their New Zealand opponents looked underpowered as they suffered a record-breaking defeat.

Benfica were two goals behind at half-time but fought back in their first Club World Cup match, with the help of two experienced Argentines to turn the tide. Against fellow Boca Juniors, Angel Di Maria closed the gap in first-half stoppage time after captain Nicolas Otamendi converted a penalty, which Otamendi then equalised with in the 84th minute. The experienced defender, who has been a fan of Boca's bitter rivals River Plate since childhood, celebrated in front of the opposing fans as he played a true captain role in the match, participating in two goals and making a game-high nine clearances. Although Benfica ended up playing with 10 men at the Hard Rock Stadium after Andrea Belotti's reckless red card, Boca were down to nine players at the final whistle, after a hard-fought battle to a tie.

In their bid to qualify from Group C, Bruno Rach's side undoubtedly have a strong attacking force: despite narrowly losing to city rivals Sporting Lisbon in the title race, they scored 84 goals in the Portuguese Primeira Liga last season. In fact, the only team to stop them scoring so far this year was against Barcelona in the Champions League in March. As such, they will be confident that they can end a rare four-game losing streak by scoring against a brave but fragile Auckland City side.

Part-time outfit Auckland City suffered the worst defeat in Club World Cup history in their opening game, losing 0-10 to German giants Bayern Munich. In Cincinnati, a plucky New Zealand side were ruthlessly beaten by the six-time European champions, conceding four goals in the first 20 minutes of a one-sided contest.

The Navy Blues, ranked 5,074th in the global club rankings, have lost eight straight games in FIFA's top competition since unexpectedly finishing third in 2014. Meanwhile, Auckland were beaten 6-2 by Al Ain in the first round of last year's Intercontinental Cup, so being drawn in such a strong group this summer will undoubtedly be a tough test.

Ivan Vycelic's side may be the best team in Oceania, with a record 13 Oceania Champions League titles in less than two decades, but they are clearly outclassed by Europe's elite. It will certainly be a case of damage limitation when they take the field on Friday, then.

Benfica predicted starting lineup:

Trubin; Dahl, A. Silva, Otamendi, Carreras; Ornes, Luis, Sanches; Akturcoglu, Pavlidis, Kjeldrup

Auckland City predicted starting lineup:

Tracy; Muratti, Boxall, Den Heyer, Mitchell, Lobo; De Vries, Garriga, Ilic, Manikum; Bevan