No matter where it goes, who it plays or what the competition is, Barcelona seems to make it look easy.

Thanks to a hat trick from Luis Suarez, the reigning UEFA Champions League winner eased into Sunday’s Club World Cup final on Thursday. Barcelona defeated Guangzhou Evergrande, 3-0, at International Stadium Yokohama in Osaka, Japan, and will play Argentine club River Plate in the final.

Suarez, who is now the leading goal-scorer of the tournament, tapped in a rebound for his first of the evening in the 39th minute. He then chested a beautiful over-the-top pass from Andres Iniesta before firing in his second.

Finally, center official Joel Aguilar pointed to the spot a little past the hour mark, and Suarez stepped up to record his hat trick in the 67th minute.

Guangzhou Evergrande will play Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the third-place game, which is also scheduled for Sunday.

Here are some more news and notes:

SAMUEL ETO’O GIVEN CHANCE TO MANAGE TURKISH TEAM

Former Cameroon captain Samuel Eto’o, 34, has been given a chance to show how he can perform as a manager.

The former Barcelona star was appointed joint-manager of Turskish side Antalyaspor on Wednesday evening. Yusuf Simsek stepped down as head coach of the top-flight club after only half a season, opening the door for Eto’o to take the joint role with technical director Mehmet Ugurlu.

In his first game with the new title, Eto’o saw his side win, 2-1, against Giresunspor in a Turkish Cup contest.

“I thank my teammates for the fight they showed. What goes on in the dressing room stays there. I can’t give details but the players are fulfilling my philosophy,” he told Turkish press on Thursday.

PUTIN THINKS BLATTER DESERVES NOBLE PEACE PRIZE

Vladimir Putin thinks the currently suspended and outgoing president of FIFA deserves a high honor.

On Thursday, the Russian president said that Sepp Blatter deserves to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the work he has done with soccer across the world.

“Sepp Blatter is a very reputable person who has contributed greatly to the development of modern football. His contribution to the global humanitarian field is enormous,” Putin said in Moscow. “He has always tried to use football, not just for sport, but as a tool for fostering cooperation between people.

“He has done a lot to develop world football. We should give him the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Blatter is currently under investigation over a payment made to UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011.

Here are more results from Europe’s top competitions on Wednesday:

SPANISH COPA DEL REY

• Athletic Bilbao 6 – 0 Real Balompedica Linense
• Eibar 4 – 0 Ponferradina
• Getafe 3 – 1 Rayo Vallecano
• Malaga 0 – 1 Mirandes
• Valencia 2 – 0 Barakaldo
• Real Sociedad 1 – 1 Las Palmas

GERMAN DFB POKAL

• FC Augsburg 0 – 2 Borussia Dortmund
• Nurnberg 0 – 2 Hertha Berlin
• VfB Stuttgart 3 – 2 TSV Eintracht Braunschweig
• TSV 1860 Munich 0 – 2 VfL Bochem

FRENCH COUPE DE LA LIGUE

• Bordeaux 3 – 0 AS Monaco
• Bourg-Peronnas 2 -3 Marseille
• Lyon 2 -1 Tours
• Paris Saint-Germain 1 – 0 St. Etienne

ITALIAN

• Napoli 3 -0 Hellas Verona
• AS Roma 0 – 0 Spezia (Spezia wins, 4-2, in PKs)
• Fiorentina 0 – 1 Carpi
• Juventus 4 – 0 Torino

QUICK KICKS:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic said Jose Mourinho should be in charge of Chelsea when Paris Saint-Germain plays it in the UEFA Champions League. (REPORT)

Sepp Blatter will appear before FIFA’s Ethics Committee to plead his innocence on Thursday. (REPORT)