Doha: They came, they saw, they conquered. The Barcelona trio – captain Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and young Neymar were enough to steamroll Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli FC into submission during their one off friendly at the Al Gharafa SC Stadium, here on Tuesday.

Their early strikes helped Barcelona in 5-3.

But, it was destined to be a high-scoring encounter and it proved to be one with eight goals being scored in the evening – a perfect showdown for the 18,126 spectators, who kept up the tempo on a cold and chilly winter evening with their chants and drumbeats.

The three did it rather early too. First it was their Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, who on a superlative, but simple cross from captain Messi made no mistake in putting the ball past goalie Yasser Al Mosailem in the 8th minute with an impressive header.

That goal paved the way for more as the Saudi Arabian club struggled to come to terms against the five-time UEFA Champions League winners.

Soon captain Messi, sporting streaks of blonde hair, upped the tempo scoring in the 10the minute. His shot off the box had lodged into the nets even before Al Mosailem could realise that it was there.

Soon it was curtains for the Saudi Arabian club when 24-year old Neymar curled in the ball from near the box and into the goal.

With a daunting lead of 3-0 early into the first half, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique Martinez decided to call off the trio and defender Gerard Pique, giving them ample rest for the upcoming exploits in the La Liga calendar. The Catalan club take on Espanyol on Sunday and then they are pitted against Hércules FC in Thursday’s Copa Del Rey encounter.

The three were replaced in the 32nd minute by defender Samuel Umtiti and playmakers Arda Turan and Denis Suarez. Forward Paco Alcacer too found his way in, but by then there had been enough action for the first half, which ended with Barcelona leading 3-0.

The second half witnessed many a substitution by both the coaches and Al Ahli’s Christian Jurgen Gross’s decision to bring in Omar Abdulrahman and Muhahhad Assiri bore results. While the former opened the account for the Saudi club in the 51st minute to bring in cheer for the large contingent of fans from across the border, the latter scored a brace (61st and 66th) to provide a ray of hope for the men in green.

Earlier, Barcelona forward Alcaer scored in the 56th minute to add to the misery of Al-Ahli.

However, eventually it was Barcelona, who reigned supreme with a 5-3 victory, thanks to the early strikes by Suarez, Messi and Neymar.