Sunday, December 20, 2015

River Plate 0-3 Barcelona: Lionel Messi Luis Suarez strike to win Club World Cup #FCB





River Plate 0-3 Barcelona RESULT: Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez strike to seal Club World Cup triumph in Yokohama
Barcelona face River Plate in Yokohama in Sunday's Club World Cup final
European champions Barca win an incredible fifth trophy of 2015

River Plate (4-3-3): Barovero; Mercado, Maidana, Balanta, Vangioni; Kranevittter, Ponzio, Sanchez; Viudez, Mora, Alario

Barcelona (4-3-3): Bravo; Alves, Mascherano, Pique, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Neymar

Lionel Messi gave Barcelona lead after getting on to Neymar's knockdown

Luis Suarez broke through on a Sergio Busquets pass to make it 2-0

Uruguayan striker added a third when he headed in from a Neymar cross


FULL-TIME! 3-0! BARCELONA ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!

90+3 mins: That's it in Yokohama. Barcelona have won the Club World Cup. Lionel Messi opened the scoring before Luis Suarez added a brace to seal a comfortable victory.
Barca really do look unstoppable when they are at their best and River Plate couldn't quite deal with them despite a valiant effort in the first half.
Barcelona are world champions after beating River Plate 3-0






12:19


Three minutes of added time






12:18


Third and final change for Barcelona
89 mins: Neymar is the man coming off - no goal for him today. He looks quite disappointed as he leave the field but no sign of a tantrum.
Jeremy Mathieu replaces him as the seconds tick down.
Neymar got two assists but he was not able to get on the scoresheet today






12:15


Sportsmail's Rik Sharma in Yokohama
River Plate fans applaud off Javier Mascherano, a former player of theirs.
And it's nice for Thomas Vermaelen to get some game-time too, given the Belgian has not put a foot wrong since regaining his fitness.
His problem is that the Pique-Mascherano backline is difficult to break up, given its success.
Javier Mascherano leaves the field after being replaced by Thomas Vermaelen






12:14



84 mins: River Plate hit the post! Claudio Bravo pushes a shot from Gonzalo Martinez on to the woodwork after the youngster lashes towards goal with a powerful left-footed strike.
The 22-year-old looks a decent player even though it's, unsurprisingly, fairly difficult to make an impact against the best team in the world.





12:11


Vermaelen on for Mascherano
81 mins: Thomas Vermaelen replaces Javier Mascherano. Not a bad year for the former Arsenal man who has spent most of it out injured but will end tonight with his seventh Barca trophy.





12:07



77 mins: That's probably River's best chance of the game so far. A corner is swung in and Gabriel Mercado's header has to be tipped over by Claudio Bravo to prevent a consolation.
And by the way, Sergi Roberto was booked not long ago for a trip.





12:05


Barca brilliance...


Barcelona are just minutes away from being crowned world champions






11:57


GOAL! 3-0! SUAREZ
68 mins: What is there left to say about this Barcelona side? They really are fantastic and this time it's a combination between Neymar and Luis Suarez that makes it 3-0.
The Uruguayan striker gets his 25th goal of the season - his fifth in this competition - after making a superb run away from his man to get on the end of Neymar's floated ball.
Suarez, who now has as many Club World Cup goals as Messi, is in brilliant form and there was no way he was going to miss.
Luis Suarez escaped the River Plate defenders to head in his second goal

Barcelona have been a joy to watch and Suarez has grabbed their third goal of the day

Suarez and Sergi Roberto celebrate with Barcelona not far off the title






11:57


Sportsmail's Rik Sharma in Yokohama
Sergi Roberto can consider himself unlucky not to have started this game. The midfielder has been brilliant for his side this season, but, with everyone fit for the first time, he was dropped to the bench.
Bringing him on now is Luis Enrique recognising his contribution.





11:56


Rakitic off, Roberto on
67 mins: First change for Barcelona. Ivan Rakitic is given a bit of a rest and his place in midfield is taken by Sergi Roberto.





11:51


Neymar booked
61 mins: Cynical foul from Neymar. He knows exactly what he's doing there as he sends his studs into Gabriel Mercado's ankle as they challenge for a ball in the air.
Might have been a bit of revenge that, after the River Plate defender barged him a couple of minutes previous. Anyway, he's shown the yellow card.
Neymar makes his point to the referee after being booked






11:48


Sportsmail's Rik Sharma in Yokohama
Terrible finishing from Barcelona's attacking trident has kept the score at 2-0. Not much good, those three...
Messi and Suarez have wasted chances since the latter netted Barcelona's second






11:47



58 mins: So much happening here. Barcelona are all over River Plate like a rash.
First, Neymar is unfortunate not to win a penalty when he is brought down inside the area, then Luis Suarez shoots straight at the goalkeeper after breaking beyond the back four.





11:45



55 mins: River Plate might as well give in now - Barcelona's MSN trident are in their element and it could have been three just now.
The Argentines are bamboozled in defence as Messi breaks through again, only to see his effort scrambled off the line.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Driussi replaces Tabare Viudez as River make their final sub.





11:42


Barcelona class
That was a great goal, Busquets' pass complete dissecting the River Plate defence and then there was no way that Suarez was going to miss with the form he's in.
It looks like Barcelona have wrapped up the Club World Cup title. River have a long way back if they're going to win this one. They look rocked now, too.


Suarez sweeps home the second






11:40


GOAL! 2-0! SUAREZ!
49 mins: Vintage direct play from Barcelona. River Plate lose the ball and two passes later it's in the net.
Andres Iniesta picks up the ball and offloads it to Sergio Busquets who sends a sumptuous ball for Luis Suarez to run on to and finish past goalkeeper Barovero.
He scored a hat-trick on his Club World Cup debut in the semi-final and now has four in this year's tournament.
Luis Suarez broke away from the defence to score after Sergio Busquets' pass

Suarez celebrates his fourth goal of the tournament






11:35


Second half underway
46 mins: Here we go, River Plate get us started for the second half in Yokohama.





11:34


Two changes for River Plate
Lucho Gonzalez and Gonzalo Martinez are on. They replace Leonardo Ponzio and Rodrigo Mora.






11:31


Sportsmail's Rik Sharma in Yokohama
FIFA clearly not happy with River fans' pyrotechnics. An announcement was made at half-time, saying: 'The use of fireworks and flares is strictly prohibited in the stadium.
'Their use will cause the match to be suspended.' Not sure that's going to stop them...





11:29


Uphill task for River Plate
The bookmakers have River Plate as far out as 66/1 to turn this around and win the game in normal time.
The Argentine side have kept Barcelona at bay for the most part but Messi's opener, combined with their lack of real chances on goal, means something has to change.
A reminder: This game will go to extra time and penalties if it ends level.
River Plate were frustrated to concede late in the first half to Lionel Messi






11:23


ELSEWHERE: Bayern Munich confirm Pep Guardiola exit
Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has confirmed Pep Guardiola will be replaced by Carlo Ancelotti next summer when the Spaniard's three-year contract comes to an end.
As revealed by Sportsmail earlier this week, the 44-year-old Spaniard will leave the Bundesliga giants and is expected to take over at Manchester City.
Guardiola, who has won back-to-back league titles in Germany since taking up the reins at the Allianz Arena, has decided to embark on a fresh challenge.





11:16


HALF-TIME - BARCELONA LEAD 1-0
45+1 mins: That's it for the first half, and Lionel Messi's improvised finish separates the two sides at the break.
Luis Suarez sent a shot wide in stoppage time to waste a chance to double Barcelona's lead but they look comfortable enough as it stands.
Messi's goal, coming in the 36th minute, has completely changed River Plate's task. They must attack now and that could play into Barcelona's hands.
Barcelona look good value for their lead, handed to them by Lionel Messi's opener

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