Barcelona have traveled all the way to England for their first preseason friendly in front of supporters this summer, with La Liga’s champions facing Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on Friday.
La Blaugrana kicked off with a convincing 4–1 victory over fellow Catalan outfit CE Europa behind closed doors last week, and Hansi Flick will be seeking back-to-back victories when taking on English second division side Birmingham.
Barcelona are still without a host of first-teamers, meaning a makeshift and youthful squad will compete against Tom Brady’s Blues, but the relentless production of talent at La Masia ensures standards won’t drop too much.
Birmingham have already been in action five times this summer as they prepare for the start of the Championship season. Victories over Huddersfield Town, Solihull Moors, Burton Albion, Crewe Alexandra and Northampton Town have them in high spirits ahead of a special occasion.
Barcelona are far from full-strength heading to St Andrew’s as they cope without many of their World Cup stars, but there’s a smattering of first-teamers on hand to guide young heads through a tough match in the Midlands.
A relatively strong defense will feature the likes of Ronald Araújo and Alejandro Balde, which should make life more challenging for Birmingham City’s in-form forwards. At the other end, outstanding options are few and far between, but Flick will still fancy his side to score multiple times.
Preseason can produce unexpected results, but Barça should avoid a surprise here.
Barcelona mojo: After romping to a routine win over CE Europa in their first friendly, Barça got some invaluable minutes in the legs of their academy starlets and senior squad members. That should serve them well against Birmingham, who have already played five warmup games to date.
Birmingham form: Flick will urge his side to be wary of their hosts, with Chris Davies and his players having won all of their friendlies so far. Birmingham have scored 11 and conceded just twice this summer, although facing Barcelona is an enormous step up.
