By Karl Matchett.

 

No Neymar, no Lionel Messi, no problem. Barcelona swatted aside Chinese Super League opponents Guangzhou Evergrande in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup semi-finals thanks to a Luis Suarez hat-trick and they'll face River Plate in the final, Spain vs. Argentina again, and in all probability the European side will once again emerge successful.

 

Should they pick up the title, officially proclaiming them the best team in the world, it will be the third time in seven years that Barcelona have gone the distance, with those first two victories coming under the guidance of Pep Guardiola and his fantastic side of ball retention-based monsters. In both 2009 and 2011, Barcelona won both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League before also going on to win the Club World Cup-an achievement which will be matched by Luis Enrique's team if they beat River. 

 

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It makes up the final part of a quintuple success, with just the Spanish Supercopa escaping their grasp in the search to claim all six trophies in the space of about as many months-but the journey doesn't stop here for the manager and his side.

 

Where the strength of the Guardiola-era side lay in midfield, this newest iteration is all about the attacking third.

 

Of course, there is huge strength and quality elsewhere, too: the goalkeeper choice is of a far more consistent and superior overall depth than Guardiola had and the likes of Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta are still of the highest quality in the centre, but the MSN troika of forwards is, without doubt, the most individually talented and collectively effective band of attackers on the world stage.

 

It is this firepower, this relentless source of goals, which could shape Barcelona's team for the next two or three seasons with easeÂ…and lead them to an even greater haul of silverware than the great Guardiola team managed.

 

None of the South American trio have shown any inclination to leave the Camp Nou. All three get on with each other, on and off the pitch, and of course when played in tandem are a near-unstoppable wave of creativity, clinical finishing and off-the-ball movement. It's tremendously difficult to stop thanks as much to the aggression and desire of those players as much as the intelligent service coming from behind them.

 

There is a harmony at Barcelona which does not exist at rival club Real Madrid, who themselves have won only a single La Liga title in the last seven years. That already gives them an edge domestically, though of course Atletico Madrid are also a huge threat in any given season. Within Spain, in all competitions, Barcelona will be the favourite to lift each trophy. Further afield in Europe, there is little question that Barça and Bayern Munich are the two best clubs, though that doesn't always translate to one of them lifting the Champions League.

 

While Guardiola won La Liga in three consecutive seasons, back-to-back Champions League wins eluded him as it has everyone else since the competition's redesign.

 

Luis Enrique has a huge opportunity to break that cycle with this group of players and a more than realistic chance of doing so, given the focus, the mentality and the continued desire of the group as a whole. With further additions over the coming transfer windows and a small group of young 20-somethings who can improve yet further, the squad will only get better.

 

Continuity and longevity is a difficult thing to come by, especially in Spanish football where the turnover in management is so high and every big team only seems a draw away from crisis headlines, but this Barcelona team might just have it in them to keep the core together over a period of four or five seasons and simply continue to win. 

 

They might not play with as much panache and dominance as Guardiola's side, but that doesn't mean they can't be better. Fast play, intelligent movement and so much individual skill means this Barcelona team remain hugely watchable. They can go on and win more trophies, more Champions League successes and even more Club World Cups than Guardiola's team did-but it all starts with the first one, and completing the job against River Plate.