The European champions were rocked before the semi-final when Messi was sidelined with renal colic – commonly caused by kidney stones – which could also rule him out of the final. And coach Luis Enrique will hope to have both Messi and Neymar available for the challenge.
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Barcelona have had to cope for a month without Messi and Alba believes they can cope and without Neymar. “We have to think about how we will play tomorrow and, of course, we will look to play our best players”.
“But now we’ve incorporated the idea that, with just a couple of touches, we can get in front of the opposition’s goal”.
Barcelona, which won the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del this year, are aiming to round off their spectacular season with a bang in the Club World Cup. Club America are a huge team with a fantastic history, but we fought back and won and we should continue to dream big for the next match against Barcelona.
“The world club championship is a very prestigious competition”, Piquet told reporters in Yokohama. “The game will be very serious and very hard, especially because they are a team which is used to winning”.
Messi’s injury meant that Luis Suarez is the only fit part of the much-vaunted MSN trio, with Neymar also injured.
“When we arrived on the bus today I had some nice flashbacks to that time”, said Scolari.
“We don’t know if we’ll have Messi and Neymar for the final”, Enrique said when quizzed about his two superstars.
Lionel Messi was absent from Barcelona’s Club World Cup semifinal against Guangzhou Evergrande on Thursday because of abdominal pain.
AFC Champions League holders Guangzhou, who are coached by former Brazil boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, boast the likes of Paulinho and Robinho among their number and came from behind to see off Mexican outfit America in the last round.
The victor of the Guangzhou-Barcelona match will advance to Sunday’s final against Argentina’s River Plate, who beat Japanese J-League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-0 thanks to Lucas Alario’s second-half header.
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“These games against opponents you do not usually meet always generate doubts, especially as they have Brazilian players with quality, and we have played a really good game”.
