Barcelona played their second pre-season friendly yesterday against their La Liga rivals Girona. It was an exciting match as we got to see different players team up with their passing and reading each other’s game. Ronald Koeman took a 23-man squad for the game. Even though he did not play all of them, we saw him testing some very unique formations with the players taking up different roles. We even got to see some different pairings in the defense, midfield, and attack but it proved to be quite useful for them. However, the highlight of the match was that the team wore their third kit of the 2020-21 season. Let us see further in the article what exactly happened in the match.

Match Summary: Barcelona vs Girona

For the first half of the match, the Netherlands coach selected Neto, Alba, Pique, Araujo, Roberto, De Jong, Busquets, Coutinho, Messi, Trincao, and Griezmann. He went with a formation of 4-2-3-1 with Griezmann being the striker. He used Messi as the attacking mid-fielder and Coutinho and Trincao from the wings. All and all, the team had built themselves a really strong attack. On the other hand in the defense, we saw Pique pair up with the young Araujo in the center-back whereas Roberto and Alba played the roles of fullbacks. Finally, it was match time and the referee blew his whistle.

The match begun and Barcelona started aiming for the back of the net immediately. It seemed like they were determined to get a goal in the early minutes only. Within just 5 minutes, Coutinho tried to scoop the ball from outside the box but it hit the crossbar and went away. However, in the 12th minute, Girona had their first attempt on the goal but it went straight into Neto’s hands. Finally, in the 21st minute, the Blaugranas scored their first goal of the game. It was a brilliant pass from Messi to Trincao after dribbling past two players. The latter then placed the ball to Coutinho for a tap-in goal. Then, Messi scored the second goal for his team in the 45th minute. He curled the ball with his right foot into the top-right corner of the net which went in after hitting the post.

That was the end of half-time with the score being 2-0 in Barcelona’s favor. Now began the second-half where within a minute, Girona had their first goal of the game. Saiz scored the put the ball into the back of the net for his team. But, the Argentinian gave the Catalans a 2-goal lead again in the 51st minute. Trincao assisted the goal to the 33-year old. That was the last goal of the game as Barcelona won with a score of 3-1 against Girona. Even though Girona created many attacks, they were able to score only once which resulted in their loss.

After this match, Barcelona and Koeman must have surely learned how and which players can team up during the game. The Dutch manager is also trying to give Neto a sufficient amount of playtime. He wants the Brazilian keeper to be ready for the upcoming La Liga games. Even though Ter Stegen is their first choice, they never know when they might need him. Luis Suarez was not included in the squad which says a lot about his position at the club. It seems like Koeman really has no plans with him and wants to part ways with the Uruguayan striker. It will be definitely thrilling to watch Barcelona play like this in the league that is soon starting. They will be locking horns with Villareal for their first match on 27th September.