The Barcelona preseason tour is always full of intrigue, as culers get their first glimpse of the next Blaugrana stars.
In Hansi Flick’s first summer in charge, virtually the entire roster was full of academy prospects, with so many of Barcelona’s players still resting from a hectic summer of international competitions. That gave a golden opportunity to the likes of Marc Casadó, Marc Bernal, and Pau Víctor.
This summer in Japan and South Korea, there will be fewer minutes for the youngsters. But it looks like Flick already has an eye on a few who may have a part to play in the upcoming season.
No one will be happier at the moment than Roony Bardghji and Dro Fernández, both of whom scored quality goals on their debut for the club. It could be said as well, that neither was playing in their natural position. Roony came on for Lamine Yamal on the right wing, while Dro came on for Marcus Rashford on the left wing.
In the end, what matters most, is getting on the score sheet, and that’s exactly what they did. In addition to that, however, they looked comfortable alongside their more experienced Barcelona teammates. The two of them are both technicians, which helps a lot with the Blaugrana assimilation.
Jofre Torrents, however, is the one to really watch. Dro and Roony will have a hard time earning playing time no matter how well they do over the summer because of the competition in front of them. We already heard that Barcelona won’t be signing anyone else, which means that the young fullback has a big opportunity in front of him.
From Jofre, we saw a true La Masia player who looked like playing with the Barca first team was second nature. Very comfortable on the ball, no fear of getting involved, and being seen.
It’s early on, but you get a sense that he’s somewhat of a Alejandro Balde and Gerard Martín hybrid. More explosive going forward that Martín, but less dynamic than Balde. Like Martín, he’s a big body who looks like he’ll be able to hold his own defensively. In the next two games, you can expect an internal Martín vs Torents competition to see who may earn Flick’s favor as the backup leftback.
But of course, the most important debuts on the night went to Marcus Rashford and Joan Garcia.
From Joan Garcia, he will have work to do getting comfortable with the Barcelona style of play, but honestly, he looked very sharp. He made several big saves, the thing he became known for last season, and looked assured with the ball at his feet. You can’t knock him for the goal that went in. Pau Cubarsí will raise his hand and take the blame for the bad touch.
From Rashford, I think we saw more or less that you might have expected from a new Barcelona forward signing.
A little clunky getting started. Not quite knowing when, or how to go forward, and when to keep the possession.
But one thing’s for sure, his Barcelona teammates were continuously looking to get him involved, as if to say, we know why you’re here, and your job is to make things happen.
The one v. one attacks weren’t fruitful, but his line breaking pass that found Robert Lewandowski is the reason why Roony scored the go ahead goal. We also saw a player who understood the assignment that he was required to track back and help his fullback.
During the cooling break, Flick put his arm around him, and the two men had a debrief of what was going well, and what to do differently. At this stage, you can’t really ask for more. Getting going may take a bit of time, and that’s ok.
Vissel Kobe proved to be a tough first opponent of the preseason. They are the best team in Japan for a reason, and they were very disciplined in their defensive shape. Barcelona had to work to break them down. That’s a good exercise in the early going for the players who want a role to play once the meaningful games start up.
Now they travel to Korea, and you can expect to see Toni and Guille Fernández, alongside Hector Fort, another player with a lot to prove.
Rashford will be looking to find chemistry with his teammates.
The La Masia players realistically though, will be planting seeds for the future. There are few opportunities up for grabs at the moment, but that could change in the future.
At the moment, they have the attention of Hansi Flick.
This is their chance to prove they belong, and have something valuable to contribute that the title defending team could benefit from.
