“We played so hard against America because we wanted to win so badly and earn the opportunity of playing against Barcelona”.
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Barcelona’s players attend a training session ahead of their Club World Cup semi-final match against Guangzhou Evergrande in Yokohama, Japan December 15, 2015.
They are first at Primera Division with 35 points from 15 games ( same as Atletico Madrid, but Barcelona has a better goal difference), they qualified for the Champions League knockout phase without any major problems as well as for the next round of Copa del Rey.
Barcelona’s star forward trio was reduced to one, but Luis Suárez rose to the occasion to fire home a hat-trick and lead his side to a 3-0 victory over Guangzhou Evergrande in the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup in Yokohama on Thursday. “We know just how much the Club World Cup means and for us it’s about winning another title, these championship wins are an indelible legacy in the history of the club”.
The other semi-final takes place the day before (on Wednesday) in Osaka and pits Japanese champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima against Argentina’s Copa Libertadores holders River Plate.
Scolari’s players are also optimistic that they will fare well in the upcoming game.
The former Premier League midfielder captained his team to the domestic and continental double again this year and believes that his colleagues can take great heart from their successes. If there was any schadenfreude at Real’s troubles among the Barca players, however, Busquets did a good job concealing it. “La Liga is a completely different competition”, he shrugged.
“It’s the best [trio] I have seen”, he told his club’s official website.
Guangzhou, managed by ex-Brazil boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, staged a dramatic late comeback to overcome America in the previous round and Alba is not taking the Chinese side lightly. It’s something very important. “We’ll see what doctors say”.
His belief is well founded, as Guangzhou is now enjoying a run of 28 games without a loss across all competitions, including their Chinese Super League and Asian Champions League title wins.
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San Lorenzo needed extra-time to beat Oceania champions Auckland City a year ago, while Brazilian sides Internacional and Atletico Mineiro have both been knocked out by African sides at the same stage.
