The premiere of the new FC Barcelona shirt has not been as expected. Xavi Hernández’s men have lost in their debut in North American territory against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal (5-3), where the lack of rhythm was more than noticeable for the culés. Two of the new signings were present on the pitch and left several sensations in their first minutes.
Both Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu were protagonists in the midfield but It was the youth squad player who felt a bit out of place within the coach’s scheme. Sergiño Dest made an appearance on the right wing and ‘Ez’ Abde was there from the start as one of the benchmarks in the team’s offensive field.
‘Give and take’ in the first half
The first minutes of the meeting were on the side of the Catalans and just 7 minutes were enough for a good play by the Moroccan to result in a goal. The attacker overflowed from his own field to the rival area and crossed a ball that Robert Lewandowski sent to the back of the net after a first shot by Raphinha. However, the ‘gunners’ have more filming in the preseason and they made it clear throughout the engagement.
Those of Arteta took control of the party and at 13′ it was Bukayo Saka who matched the actions taking advantage of a mistake by Andreas Christensen in the background. In fact, the striker himself had 2-1 in his boots but missed a penalty kick ten minutes later after a clear hand from Ronald Araújo. The spaces in the blaugrana background have been notorious and It has been the Uruguayan himself who has stuck out his chest on more than one occasion to defeat a Dest that continues to have shortcomings on the wing.
The match was hotter than expected with multiple offenses and yellow cards, although it left an incentive that had not been seen at Barça since Leo Messi left: a goal from a direct free kick. It was Raphinha who was in charge of finishing off at 34′ from long distance lucky that he strayed into Martin Odegaard. Despite the fact that the meeting was for anyone, it was Arsenal who got equality before the break with a good projection from Saka and a subsequent shot from Kai Havertz.
Arsenal was much superior in the complement
The Catalan coach made a total of eleven changes for the second half and both Alejandro Balde and Fermin Lopez entered the SoFi Stadium turf. The defender left a good impression after his ankle injury, while the reserve player continues to impress with his high quality. Nevertheless, only ten minutes were enough for Leandro Trossard to put the English on the tables after Jules Koundé did not close the spaces well.
The runners-up in the Premier continued to show that they are up for great things and that their filming has allowed them to combine in a better way. His dominance has been notorious and Trossard scored again (4-2)followed by a good combination between Ousmane Dembélé and Ferran Torres who brought Barcelona closer with a cross shot from the Valencian (4-3). Fabio Vieira finished putting the stake at 89′ with a real goal from outside the area to close a more than deserved victory for Arsenal in their third game of the tour (5-3).
2023-07-27 23:13:01
#messy #Barça #lose #Arsenal #debut #tour
