Barcelona make short work of poor Krakow

Barcelona, who have gone two seasons without a trophy, began their planned comeback in style by disposing of Wisla Krakow 4-0 Wednesday in their Champions League third qualifying round tie.

The team of new coach Josep Guardiola put the Polish team under pressure from the start, and the club's star striker Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon opened the scoring in the 18th minute.

Guardiola was again justified in reversing his decision in June to dispense with the Cameroonian when Eto'o doubled his tally in the 83rd minute.

The Catalan team picked up a second goal through Xavi Hernandez from a long-range kick in the 25th minute.

French striker Thierry Henry, who had not found the net once in the pre-season friendlies, got a confidence boost by scoring the third in the 50th minute.

Qualification for the group stages of football's richest and most prestigious club competition should be a formality for Barca following the second leg of the tie in Poland in a fortnight.