Messi, Neymar to start Club World Cup final

Barca star Lionel Messi starts the final after missing the 3-0 win against Guangzhou as a result of renal colic, and Iniesta had been hopeful the Argentinian would feature in the final. River Plate is a very much better, a lot very much actually, than Guangzhou, and they will play the game of their lives against the world’s best team. Carlos Sanchez is their most capped player with a modest 11 outings for Uruguay.

Manager Luis Enrique refused to elaborate on Messi’s condition during a news conference on Saturday.

Shaking his head, Enrique said with a smile: “Oh, give me a break! We haven’t hidden him or anything”.

Barcelona will be bidding to become the first team to win the Club World Cup three times in the final, which kicks off at 1930 local time (1030 GMT).

Messi never played professionally in Argentina and has faced an Argentine side only once before, when Barcelona met Estudiantes in the 2009 final. River had another totally opposite game: The Millionaires suffered against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, needing a late game-winner from young striker Lucas Alario to qualify for the Final in a really hard matchup. Neymar also came close to scoring with a curling effort that shaved the bar. “But we have to avoid that and we have the desire to keep winning titles and be the best team in the world”.