The second half was a different story, with the skills and pace of halftime substitutes Saviola and Riquelme, and later Overmars, helping Barca step up a gear.
Arsenal's Marc Overmars and Liverpool's Sander Westerveld would be the obvious replacements having played against France while Giovanni van Bronckhorst is available again after serving a one-match ban.
Flu victim Emmanuel Petit has been virtually ruled out of a side that is already without injured Tony Adams, Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars plus Nigerian ace Kanu, who is on African Nations Cup duty.