Luis Suarez has scored his 13th goal in 10 games to give Barcelona a 1-0 lead over Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande in the the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup.
The goal came on 39 minutes as the former Liverpool star pounced on a rebound after Ivan Rakitic’s long-range effort had been spilled by the Guangzhou goalkeeper.
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Barca have dominated possession as expected, but they have struggled at times to break down Guangzhou’s well-organised defence.
Guangzhou are certainly no mugs. They earned their big date with Barca by beating Club America 2-1 in the quarter-finals. The Chinese side scored twice in the final ten minutes of that match, with Zheng Long and former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho bagging the goals.
Paulinho is not the only big name among the Guangzhou ranks.
Midfielder Ricardo Goulart – another senior Brazil international – joined Guangzhou last January for a fee in the region of $12.7m, according to Yahoo Sports.
One-time Real Madrid star Robinho started today’s game on the bench, alongside manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, who rejected the England job in 2006, according to The Telegraph.