FC Barcelona brought their preseason schedule to a close on Wednesday night with a 2-1 victory over Egyptian side Al Ahly in the Joan Gamper Trophy. A crowd of 54,224 packed Spotify Camp Nou for the traditional squad presentation.
The pre-match ceremony belonged to Rodri, who received the loudest ovation of the night despite not being available to play following his move from Manchester City earlier in the week. The rest of Hansi Flick’s summer arrivals were also introduced to the Blaugranes before kickoff.
Barcelona controlled the opening half through sustained high pressing that pinned Al Ahly deep in their own territory. The breakthrough came in the 29th minute when Raphinha combined with Alejandro Balde down the left, the full-back cutting the ball back for 18-year-old Hamza Abdelkarim to finish first time for his fourth preseason goal. The young striker chose not to celebrate against his former club.
Raphinha doubled the lead himself just before the break, winning a penalty after reacting quickest to a loose ball in the box and converting from the spot to make it 2-0. Al Ahly responded with far greater intensity after the restart, and Zizo pulled a goal back in the 51st minute with a well-controlled finish past Joan Garcia on a swift counter-attack.
Flick’s half-time changes brought on Anthony Gordon and Dani Olmo among others, and the England international was involved in most of Barcelona’s late chances. Gordon thought he had restored the two-goal cushion only for the effort to be ruled out, before forcing a strong save from Mohamed El Shenawy and later winning a penalty in the 89th minute. His spot kick was well saved by El Shenawy, meaning the miss cost Barcelona a more comfortable margin without changing the outcome.
Karim Adeyemi also came off the bench and went close on a couple of occasions.
Barcelona now turn their full attention to the start of their La Liga title defence.
