FC Barcelona wins Club World Cup and lifts the fifth trophy this year

Barcelona (CNA).- After winning the Champions League earlier this year, Barça has lift the FIFA Club World Cup trophy for the third time. The Catalans beat River Plate 3-0 after a performance that was a joy for the planet to behold. Messi returned to action with a bang, scoring the first goal and Luis Suárezscored two goals to add to the three that he notched in the semi-final. That made him by far the top scorer in the competition, and also made him the natural choice to collect the MVP award. Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup. Five titles to end a dream 2015 and throw further merit on Luis Enrique at the helm of the team. It’s been a year  to match 2011, when Guardiola led FCB to every title apart from the Copa del Rey and just one trophy short of that historic and memorable 2009.

River came out with a high-pressing game which made life difficult for Barça in the early stages. However, the Catalans eventually found the spaces to carve through the Argentine defence to turn the game in their favour.

After missing the semi-final through injury, Messi returned to action with a bang, scoring the first goal and playing a part in the other two.

Suárez showed his predatory instincts in the box, scoring twice in the final just days after his hat-trick against Guangzhou Evergrande in the semi, which handed him the tournament’s Golden Ball award.

But despite the individual accolades, he insisted to the media after the final whistle that “the most important thing was to win the title.”

Suárez also commended Barça’s Argentinian rivals, who “knew how to create pressure well and broke down our game a lot.” But he was even more impressed with his own team, of course including Messi and Iniesta, who took the silver and bronze individual awards. “The team made huge sacrifices to come into this game in the right condition” commented the Uruguayan. “Our next target is to make sure that our level doesn’t drop off. Because we still hope to win a lot more trophies.”

The front three were back in from the start after Neymar and Messi missed the semi-final, and they proved far too much to handle for the River defence as they each put in superb performances. Busquets, Iniesta and Rakitic dictated the tempo of the game while Pique led his defensive colleagues to a faultless display at the back which was rarely threatened by the opposition.

Five-star FC Barcelona

Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup. Five titles to end a dream 2015 and throw further merit on Luis Enrique at the helm of the team. It’s been a year  to match 2011, when Guardiola led FCB to every title apart from the Copa del Rey and just one trophy short of that historic and memorable 2009. And the win in Yokohama also makes Barça the only club to have won the FIFA Club World Cup three times.

We could call this the third version of the Barça of the Five Cups, that legendary team of 1951-52 that won the Liga, Cup, Latin Cup, Eva Duarte Cup and the Martini Rossi Cup. There was no European Cup in those days, but with Basora, César, Kubala, Moreno and Manchón leading the way, that was the first great trophy-hauling Barça team.

From Madrid to Yokohama

The first title of this wonderful year of 2015 was the league, won when Leo Messi scored at the Calderón. That was the prize for consistency, and shortly after Barça added the Copa del Rey with a 3-1 defeat of Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou. Messi was again the star of the show with that brilliant slaloming goal. And there was more to come with the club’s fifth Champions League, won in Berlin against Juventus, with goals from Rakitic, Suárez and Neymar bringing a 3-1 win that made Barça the first club to achieve the treble twice.

The summer brought the European Super Cup in Tbilisi following an incredible game with Sevilla decided by a Pedro goal in extra time. Athletic stunned Barça to take the Spanish Super Cup, the only trophy the Catalans missed out on this season, but the year ended with further glory. River Plate were beaten 3-0 in the Club World Cup final in Yokohama and this team that can’t stop making history was celebrating yet again!