Club World Cup: FC Barcelona demolish FC Santos

UEFA Champions League winners FC Barcelona demolished their South America counterparts the Copa Libertadores champions FC Santos from Brazil 4-0 to win their second Club World Cup title in Yokohama, Japan in three years. In 2009 the Catalans had beaten Argentinian side Estudiantes.

The 70,000 spectators in Yokohama were treated to a one-sided game in which Barca showed all their class. The match was billed as the match-up of Lionel Messi vs Neymar, but the seasoned Messi proved that currently he is the best player in the world while teenager Neymar still has a long, long way to go...

Messi gave his side a 17th minute lead through a beautiful chip over Rafael Cabral after a nice Barca combination, while Xavi Hernandez made it 2-0 only seven minutes later with a nice placed shot. On the verge of half-time Barca made it 3-0 after chaos in the Santos defence and a couple of good saves by Rafael Cabral it was Cesc Fabregas who put the ball finally in.

After the break Neymar did have a chance to reduce the deficit, but that was the difference between him and Messi on this night. Messi would score his second and his teams fourth in the 82nd minute. It ended 40 for FC Barcelona and no one doubted the win in the end.

After the match Barca coach Pep Guardiola said, "The reason for our success is the effort of the players. We have very high-quality players and were able to display quality football."