YOKOHAMA: Luis Suarez made up for the absence of Lionel Messi and Neymar, scoring a hat-trick — including an exquisite second goal — as Barcelona strolled into the Club World Cup final with a 3-0 win over Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande on Thursday.

The Spanish giants will face Argentine side River Plate in Yokohama on Sunday as they look to become the first team to win the tournament three times. Guangzhou will face Japanese champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the third-place game, also on Sunday.

“Luis Suarez is deadly inside the box, he will always score for you,” Barca coach Luis Enrique told reporters. “He’s a spectacular player.

“He is very talented in difficult situations and knows what to do in those situations. We had some injuries to deal with so we had to adjust and he stepped up.”

The European champions were rocked before the semi-final when Messi was sidelined with renal colic — commonly caused by kidney stones — which could also rule him out of the final.

Initially Barca missed Messi’s wizardry and the guile of his Brazilian strike partner Neymar, who was rested as he recovers from a groin strain.

“We don’t know if we’ll have Messi and Neymar for the final,” Enrique said when quizzed about his two superstars.

The Chinese side gave Barca a couple of scares in the first half but they were utterly outclassed by the end of a match that often resembled an attack-versus-defence training session.

Zou Zheng also suffered a horrific injury in the first half, appearing to break his leg as he fell awkwardly to the clear distress of his Guangzhou team-mates.

The Catalans toiled to break down Evergrande’s massed ranks of defenders, until Suarez pounced to tuck in the rebound after goalkeeper Li Shaui failed to hold Ivan Rakitic’s long-range drive six minutes before half-time.

The Uruguayan grabbed his second five minutes after the break when he latched onto a beautifully-weighted Andres Iniesta pass, bringing the ball down on his chest before volleying past Li in one movement to the delight of most in the crowd of 63,000.

He put the result beyond doubt with a penalty kick after Huang Bowen took down Munir El Haddadi in the area in the 67th minute to record his 21st goal of the season for Barca, who previously won the Club World Cup in 2009 and 2011.

“We knew we were without the two most important players for the team, but all we could do was stay focused and try to reach the final,” said Suarez. “I hope [Messi] recovers as quickly as possible.

“We knew there was a big chance we would be playing against River,” added the former Liverpool forward. “They won the Copa Libertadores, they are one of the best teams in the Americas and we will have to play well to lift the cup.”

Barca’s dominance was almost embarrassing as they stroked the ball effortlessly around and not even Guangzhou’s contingent of three Brazilian players could stop them.

It was the Chinese team’s first defeat in 26 games under coach Luiz Felipe Scolari who took over in June.

Scolari was returning to the stadium where he led Brazil to their fifth world title in 2002, although this time he was in search of redemption after last year’s 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Germany on home soil in his second stint in charge.

“I want to thank the players for this fantastic year they have had,” Scolari told reporters. “Losing 3-0 to Barcelona is no different to what other big clubs have suffered.”

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2015