5 Great Barcelona Moments at FIFA Club World Cup Finals

Barcelona are in Japan for their fourth Club World Cup finals appearance.

Successful in their last two in 2009 and 2011, Luis Enrique's men will hope to make it a hat-trick of titles and see the gold "World Champions" badge return to the Blaugrana for the first time in a few years.

Neymar aside, the Catalans don't appear to have too many injury concerns and remain favourites to lift the crown.

Should they play anywhere close to their best it's doubtful the other teams involved will be able to live with them over 90 minutes—complacency is likely to be Barca's worst enemy during the tournament.

Enrique might want to use the example of 2009 when Barca were heavily fancied against Estudiantes. Ultimately successful, the outcome could've been so much different.

Let's take a look at five great Barcelona moments from the FIFA Club World Cup finals.

Ronaldinho's Performance Against Club America

Nine years ago, Ronaldinho was in his pomp at Barcelona and Club America would be the victims of another of his headline-grabbing performances.

Almost any play of note came via the Brazilian superstar, and his goal—when it came—was not only deserved, it was also a thing of beauty.

Ludovic Giuly's shot was parried by the goalkeeper, and it was quite masterful the way Ronaldinho controlled the ball with his first touch and swept the ball home with his second.

Standing just by the penalty spot and with four defenders and the goalkeeper to beat, Ronaldinho made it look easy as he found the top corner. 

He was a constant thorn in the side of his opponents, with America not really knowing how to handle him. Whether touch-tight or otherwise, the Brazilian had the measure of them on the day.

He added an assist for Deco's spectacular piledriver late in the game and still had time to beat four players in a weaving run on the edge of the box before chipping the goalkeeper, only to see the ball come back off the crossbar.

It deserved a goal and would've capped a sublime 90 minutes.

Pedro's 89th-Minute Equaliser

Pedro Rodriguez couldn't have timed it any better.

With time running out at the end of the 2009 final and Barca having played OK if not spectacularly well, they needed someone—anyone—to come up with the goods as they trailed 1-0 to Estudiantes.

Eighty-eight minutes were on the clock and the Argentinian team had to be aware just how close they were to denying Barcelona the title again, after the Catalans' failure in 2006.

Barca moved the ball from the left wing to the centre and Xavi's clipped ball was nodded high into the air by a covering Estudiantes midfielder. 

Gerard Pique was the first to react and his own carefully placed header fell kindly to Pedro.

With goalkeeper Damian Albil already three yards off his line, the only way he could score would be the third looping header in the sequence, hoping to see it drop under the crossbar. That it duly did. Cue wild Barcelona celebrations.

It was the lifeline the Blaugrana needed, and it gave the team the platform which allowed them to build up a head of steam in extra time and eventually take the game away from their opponents.

There was only going to be one winner once Barca had levelled the scores, the stuffing completely knocked out of an Estudiantes side that had given their all to that point.

Lionel Messi's Chested Winner

To this day, the goal that Lionel Messi scored in extra time of the 2009 Club World Cup final remains the only one to have been scored with his chest.

After Barca had somehow contrived to almost lose the final, Pedro Rodriguez had given them impetus with his late, late equaliser and from there it was surely written that Messi would be the man to bring the trophy back to Catalonia for the first time in the club's history.

With Estudiantes tiring mentally and physically having expended almost every last ounce of energy, Xavi worked the ball wide to Dani Alves who, for probably the first time in the match, found himself in acres of space.

With no opposition player attempting to close the Brazilian down, he was able to take two touches to control the ball before executing an almost inch-perfect cross.

It's not known why Messi didn't go for a diving header but in any event, he had a run on Juan Sebastian Veron and Christian Cellay at the back post and just flung himself at the ball. Perhaps the unorthodox finish is what deceived the keeper.

Not that it would've bothered anyone connected with Barca. A scrappy finish it may have been, but they all count.

Pep Guardiola's Tears

Football is all about emotions. A feeling that one can only get from following a particular team. The highs and lows per game equating to joy or despair when winning or losing.

For players, it can be the moment when they see a ball ripple the net as their perfectly executed shot finds its way home. Or, when anger takes over, that one idiotic moment when the red mist descends.

Managerial emotions take on many different forms. You have the maniacal waving of arms, the notepad scribbler or the more studious admirer of the game sat on the bench with arms folded, watching and waiting.

Rarely are managers prone to public shows of emotion or weakness that are generally kept under wraps and behind closed doors.

Pep Guardiola can be forgiven for his tears at the end of the Club World Cup final in 2009.

Having just completed the first-ever sextuple in 150 years of football history, the Catalan had every right to drop his usual facade.

The enormity of the achievement was reward for the incredible amount of hours Guardiola himself had put in to ensure that Barca became the best in the world.

Official Guardiola biographer Guillem Balague noted in an interview with Chris Hatherall of The Irish Examiner that:

"

He works too hard. The players at Barcelona wonder when he lost the balance between professional and private life, because it happened very quickly. That’s his personality, he has to do that; but at the same time it excruciates him, it makes him unhappy.

[...] The only way he got to see his children was to bring them with him – because he was virtually living at the training ground at that stage. The obsession tortures him.

"

His players understood perfectly well what was going through Guardiola's mind in those brief moments at the end of the match against Estudiantes.

One after the other they came to place an arm around their manager, their mentor, their friend.

It was emotional to watch.

Messi's Opener Against Santos

The last time Barcelona played in the tournament was in 2011 and fate would decree that the Catalans would line up against a Santos side that included a young Neymar.

Indeed, the Brazilian wunderkind had played a big part in ensuring that his side had made it to the finals via some exhilarating performances in the Brasileiro.

On the day, the game was billed as a Messi vs. Neymar shoot out with the Daily Telegraph just one newspaper to run a "tale of the tape." In the event, it was never close to being anything of the sort.

Men against boys might have been a more apt description because the final was so one-sided as to be embarrassing.

Messi was chief orchestrator for the Blaugrana as he had been so many times before and his opening goal—a strike of impudent quality—set Barca on their way to a magnificent 4-0 victory.

The Argentinian had been involved in the move for the goal in the infancy of its development and a sharp interchange of passes saw Xavi able to manoeuvre a pass right into Messi's path.

The chipped finish has been seen many times since and has become something of a trademark.