Barca set for showdown with Santos

The final that the world wanted to see is on. Barcelona’s 4-0 defeat of Al-Sadd on Thursday night means the Spanish giant will face santos on Sunday for the honour of becoming the champion of the Club World Cup.

Despite barely getting out of second gear and losing striker David Villa to a broken leg, the Catalans cruised to victory over the Asian champions thanks to two goals from Adriano and one apiece from Seydou Keita and Maxwell, and Al-Sadd’s coach Jorge Fossati was magnanimous in defeat.

“Nobody wants to lose 4-0, but if you’re playing against Barcelona then perhaps it can’t be helped,” the Uruguayan said.

“Barcelona is one level higher than the other teams in this competition. Of course, there is Santos, but I believe that Barcelona are better than them.”

Villa suffered a fractured tibia and facing a prolonged injury layoff, but head coach Pep Guardiola maintained that the side would not be thrown off course by the setback.

“Villa is going back (to Spain) for an operation,” Guardiola said. “We’ll have to play without him to become the champions of the world.”

Barca captain Carles Puyol refused to get carried away, and insisted that the final was not going to be easy for the European champions.

“Two great teams will play and I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

“Everybody talks about Neymar,” he continued, referring to Santos’ young striker, “but they have many other good and experienced players.”

The 33-year-old did express his admiration for Brazil’s latest star though, paying particular attention to his trademark dribbles.

“It’s very difficult to mark him and he’s very fast,” Puyol said. “When he has the ball we don’t know whether he’s going to the right or the left.”