Barcelona have set up a dream FIFA Club World Cup final against Santos by defeating Al-Sadd 4-0 today. The Barca victory though was dampered by the broken leg to striker David Villa, that will keep the Barca striker out of action for around six months.
The Villa’s injury aside, this was more like a training exercise for Barcelona as Al-Sadd is not in the same class.
Barca were on top from the opening whistle and it was a matter of when and how many they would score.
Surprisingly it took Barca 25 minutes to get its first goal. Nadir Belhadj needlessly volleyed the ball back to his keeper from a Pedro cross. Unable to handle the back-pass without conceding a free-kick, Saqr attempted to get the ball out of his feet to clear, but succeeded only in booting it against the shins of Adriano, from which the ball rebounded back into the Al-Sadd net.
Two minutes before half-time and the game was over. Adriano was the unlikely hero once again, and this time there was no luck involved as he cut in from the left on to a reverse pass from Thiago and rifled an excellent left-foot shot beyond the helpless Saqr.
Messi laid on on Barcelona’s third goal with a superb defence-splitting pass that allowed Seydou Keita to flick a left-foot shot beyond the advancing Saqr.
And there was still time for salt to be applied to Al-Sadd’s wounds, with Maxwell adding a fourth goal with nine minutes remaining. Not for the first time, the impressive Thiago provided the vision, threading through an incisive reverse pass that was matched by the powerful left-foot shot the Brazilian substitute sent flashing just inside the near post.
So now we have the dream match-up on Sunday. Barcelona v Santos. Messi v Neymar. Tiki-taka v Samba.
