Barcelona in Club World Cup final after Suarez hat-trick

A hat-trick from Suarez saw Barcelona beat Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande 3-0 in a match where Iniesta shone in the middle of the park.

With Lionel Messi out and Neymar on the bench, Luis Suarez was left to lead the line in Thursday’s semifinal against Asian champion Guangzhou Evergrande.

The Uruguayan grabbed his second five minutes after the break when he latched onto a superb Andres Iniesta pass, bringing the ball down on his chest before volleying past Li to the delight of most in the crowd of 63,000. Munir El Haddadi was fouled inside the box which gave Suarez the opportunity to score his third goal. “We had some injuries to deal with so we had to adjust and he stepped up”.

Messi was diagnosed Thursday morning with renal colic, a type of abdominal pain commonly attributed to kidney stones.

Should Barcelona see off the challenge of Guangzhou, a meeting with either Sanfrecce Hiroshima or River Plate awaits in Sunday’s final. “His future availability will depend on the outcome of further medical tests”.

“Leo Messi, last-minute absentee from the Club World Cup semi-final”.

It was Guangzhou’s first defeat under Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari who took over in June.

“We knew it was very possibly we’d play against River”.

In three days’ time, back at the same worldwide stadium in Yokohama, Barcelona will now look to add to their haul of La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League and European Super Cup titles in what has been a year to remember.