FC Barcelona return to the stage with a victory

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MIÉ 22.07.2015

A month and a half after lifting la Liga BBVA, la Copa de Rey and the UEFA Champions League titles, FC Barcelona have shown again that they are still hungry to win. They did in front of 85,000 supporters, after picking up a 1-2 win in their first pre-season game at the International Champions Cup, and against a team in the news like LA Galaxy, the team of the ex Liverpool FC player, Steven Gerrard.

Viejos amigos. #LAvFCB pic.twitter.com/jwlSpLJjwa
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy_Es) July 22, 2015

The clash at the Rose Bowl Stadium, in Pasadena (California), was entertaining with a lot of good football. Luis Enrique reserved the majority of his stars for the second half, but the starters, aware that every test matters in this pre-season, showed a high level on the pitch. Ivan Rakitić was one of the most involved. He created danger at corners, and was also solid in the midfield.

XI inicial: 25. Masip 4. Rakitic 5. Sergio 7. Pedro 9. Luis Suárez 12. Rafinha 15. Bartra 16. Douglas 20. S. Roberto 21. Adriano 24. Mathieu
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) July 22, 2015

The FC Barcelona goals came from Luis Suárez, who scored on the stroke of half-time thanks to a pass from Marc Bartra, and Sergi Roberto, who took advantage of a mix-up in the box to give the 0-2 lead. The American team’s goal, which didn’t arrive until the 91st minute, was scored by Tommy Meyer.

After the game, the 'azulgrana' coach described the performance of his players as "intense and at a good tempo", and spoke about what awaits the team this season: "Without doubt, we’ll be the team to beat, that’s why we've got to carry on improving every area of our game".

Luis Enrique: “Me ha gustado cómo ha jugado el equipo” http://t.co/w3ulZopzAS pic.twitter.com/5yqJ2hJxGC

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) July 22, 2015

The game in numbers

- Luis Enrique used 21 players.- Douglas Costa was the only player to play the full 90 minutes. - Luis Suárez opened the scoring on the 45th minute, Sergi Roberts doubled the lead on the 56th minute and the American player Tommy Meyer made it a 1-2 final score in stoppage time. - Over 85,000 spectators attended the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena (California)