Al Sadd vs. Barcelona: Complete Preview, Live Stream, Start Time and Schedule

Barcelona are set to fly to the Far East to face Al-Sadd in the semifinal round of the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup on Thursday. The Blaugrana are back to playing the beautiful game as they always have, with a dominant win over La Liga rival Real Madrid on Saturday serving as the latest example.

Qatari club Al-Sadd, on the other hand, are due for a rude awakening after defeating Tunisian side Esperance in Toyota, Japan on Sunday.

Where: International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan

When: Thursday, December 15th at 5:30 a.m. EST

Watch: ESPN UK

Player to Watch for Al-Sadd: Khalfan Al Khalfan

In the event that Al-Sadd are ever able to wrestle the ball away from Barca, look for it to land on the foot of Khalfan Al Khalfan.

That's right, folks: Khalfan Al Khalfan, short for Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan Al Khalfan (no joke).

The 23-year-old Qatari forward scored The Boss' first goal against Esperance on a timely header. Finding room against Barcelona's defense will be tough, but with that name of his, he just may wind up in three places at once.

Player to Watch for Barcelona: Lionel Messi

What's not to love about Messi? He's the best player on the best team in the world, he scores goals at will (27 in 24 total appearances this season) and, most importantly, he's not Cristiano Ronaldo. He doesn't figure to be on the pitch for long, as this match will be out of hand in short order, though he'll still dazzle for however long it is that Pep Guardiola sees it fit for him to play.

Key Matchup: Barca vs. Barca

No offense to Al-Sadd, but the Qataris have about as good a chance of beating Barcelona as you or I would. They'll need Barca to play poorly, get disqualified and/or miss the match entirely to have any realistic shot at advancing to the next round.

What They're Saying:

Barcelona may be on their way to another La Liga title, but don't try telling that to Pep Guardiola.

The Blaugrana boss was quick to temper expectations, lofty as they already were, after his squad's 3-1 victory over arch rival Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in El Clasico on Saturday:

"

I am delighted with the performance. Madrid will recover. To win here, you have to play a very good game and we have done that. But there is still much to do and Madrid will again be the leader if they beat Sevilla. There are no champions in December.

"

That being said, Guardiola can't be too despondent about Barca's position atop the league table with the New Year fast approaching. They're likely to claim more hardware in Japan and advance to the next round of the Copa del Rey before their next La Liga match at Espanyol on January 8th.

Prediction: Barcelona 3, Al-Sadd 0

I'd give Barca a wider margin here, but they'll likely spend too much time kicking the ball around the midfield to bother with pouring it on their Qatari challengers. After all, they'll need to save some energy to handle a Santos club featuring future European club star, Neymar.

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