Messi the Main Man in Barcelona's Bid To Teach Estudiantes a Lesson

There was no doubt the majority of the Zayed city sports crowd was pleased when FC Barcelona secured their passage to the FIFA Club World Cup final after defeating Atlante 3-1.

Their evening was made all the more sweeter when Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola decided to bring on Ballon D'Or winner Lionel Messi just 10 minutes into the second half.

And it did not take long for the 22-year-old to showcase why he is arguably the world’s finest footballer, scoring a goal barely a minute after he came on in place of Yaya Toure.

A beautiful through ball from Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic was enough for Messi to slot home the goal that gave Barcelona the lead in a match which saw the La Liga giants in trouble early on.

Despite dominating possession, Barcelona were clearly missing Messi’s ability to get in behind the defence and create an attacking option which usually leads to a goal.

Atlante’s few touches however managed to put Barcelona on the back foot, with goal scorer Guillermo Rojas being the biggest beneficiary just five minutes into the contest.

The 26-year-old scored a great goal after he found himself on the end of a well-placed Atlante free kick, which left Barcelona team-mates Victor Valdes and Dani Alves in two minds.

Indeed Atlante forward Fernando Navarro should have given the Mexican champions the initiative against the La Liga giants, squandering a wonderful opportunity to put his side 2 nil up barely ten minutes into the first half.

Navarro’s opportunity was made possible by the clinical counter attacking play from an Atlante midfield which looked more dangerous in possession than their European counterparts.

But from the moment a possible two goal lid went begging for Atlante, Barcelona began dominating the match, as key figures Xavi, Iniesta and Toure started dictating terms with possession.

And when Sergio Basquets tapped in from close range to equalise for the Champions League winners, Atlante were always to going to find it difficult to keep their opponents at bay.

Whilst Barcelona went into halftime the superior outfit once again, Guardiola knew the only way to break the game wide open was to bring on a fresh Messi eager to stamp his authority at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Barely a minute after entering the field, Messi’s darting runs without the ball immediately started causing havoc to the Atlante defence.

It only took a minute for the Argentine to provide Barcelona with the licence to play the clinical brand of attacking football we have become so accustomed to seeing from them.

Although Barcelona should not be classified as a one man team, it is clearly evident that Messi provides the La Liga giants with the X-factor necessary to transform itself from a good team in possession, to a side capable of scoring a goal every time it controls the football.

Indeed Messi’s influence is only bound to grow in the final against Estudiantes, especially after the injury to Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta.

No doubt if the Ballon D'Or winner is able to control proceedings early on against the Copa Libertadores champions, Barcelona will go a long way to erasing the disappointment of their failure in 2006, when Brazilian outfit Internacional beat them 1-0 to claim the FIFA Club World Cup title.