ABU DHABI: Barcelona emphatically underlined why many regard them as the best and most entertaining side in the world in their 3-1 semi-final win over with Atlante in the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

The European champions found themselves at an early deficit, but an exquisite performance was rewarded with a date against Estudiantes in Saturday’s decider.

Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi, who performed exceptionally following his 53rd-minute introduction, and Pedro were on target for Barca, following Guillermo Rojas’s surprise opener for the Cancun outfit. Atlante will now face Pohang Steelers in the third-place play-off.

Barcelona immediately began to showcase their inimitable, pass-and-move football.

However, the reigning European champions were stunned in the fifth minute. Rojas beat goalkeeper Victor Valdes to a long ball and clipped the ball over him. The diminutive playmaker still had significant work to do, as the ball was heading out for a goal-kick, but, from an acute angle, he managed to flick the ball into the empty net with his outstretched leg.

Finally, the Barcelona onslaught reaped a reward 10 minutes before the break.

Xavi’s corner was flicked on by the head of Yaya Toure, and Busquets scrambled home

the loose ball. The crowd in Abu Dhabi duly went wild. The Catalan giants started the second half as they ended the first: dominating possession and attacking at every opportunity. Velasquez was doing his utmost to keep them at bay.

The crowd erupted when Lionel Messi jogged on to the field to replace Toure. The Argentine took less than two minutes to adhere to the script his adoring followers had imagined.

Taking a clever reverse pass from Ibrahimovic in his stride, he skipped away from his marker, rounded the goalkeeper and slotted home to provoke deafening noise inside the Zayed Sports City Stadium.

Messi was heavily involved in the ensuing 10 minutes. His lightning feet earned two free-kicks, the latter of which Xavi curled on to the head of Ibrahimovic, whose dangerous cut-back forced Atlante to concede a corner. Barcelona put the game out of their CONCACAF counterparts reach in the 67th minute. Iniesta jinked his way into the Atlante 18-yard box and craftily slipped the ball through to the unmarked Pedro, who finished calmly.