Guangzhou Evergrande is set to take on Barcelona this Thursday at the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup in the Japanese city of Yokohama.

Barcelona may play the game without Neymar, who injured¹ his groin during practice.

Guangzhou head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari offered these thoughts on the game.

"Barcelona without Neymar is still a great team. They have great players besides Neymar. I would say they are a perfect team. I think Neymar is one of the top three players in the world and he has always been thought of as one of those top three players. So not having Neymar in the squad² is probably good for us, but obviously³ Barcelona is still a great team even without him."

Guangzhou come into this match after a 2-1 comeback win over Club America on Sunday.

Zheng Long and Paulinho scored the two goals⁴ to help Evergrande with the win.