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| Ansu Fati of FC Barcelona is challenged by Scott Neville of the All Stars during the match between FC Barcelona and the A-League All Stars at Accor Stadium on May 25, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. |
Teenage striker Ansu Fati got a
late winner as Barcelona survived a scare to beat Dwight Yorke´s A-League All
Stars in a 3-2 thriller in front of 70,000 fans in Sydney on Wednesday.
The Catalan giants only arrived
in Australia on Tuesday morning on a whistlestop 48-hour visit, barely a day
after completing their league season with a 2-0 loss to Villarreal, which saw
them finish 13 points adrift of champions Real Madrid.
They showed few effects from
the long trip to turn on the style for a noisy pro-Barca crowd, dominating the
first half and going into the break 1-0 ahead after French striker Ousmane
Dembele clinically finished in the 34th minute.
But the All Stars stunned them with two goals in
eight second-half minutes, before Xavi Hernandez´s side rallied to retake
control with strikes from Adama Traore and Fati.
“Amazing atmosphere, five goals today, they
played really well, I have to congratulate them,” said coach Xavi.“I think we played a very serious 90
minutes, I think we played really well. We conceded two goals, this is
football, and then we came back so a very good test for us. I´m very
proud.”
After a rare trophy-less season, Xavi brought a
strong squad and a host of top names started including captain Sergio Busquets,
veteran Dani Alves, and the unsettled Dembele, who may have played his last
game for the club.
It was always going to be a tough task for
Yorke´s hastily convened team, and with the former Manchester United striker on
the sidelines for his first major coaching job.
“To see the fans, that was
incredible,” said Yorke. “It was a great performance by the lads, I
am so pleased.“Some of the boys surprised me considering
we only had two days together in preparation. To put on a show like this, I
couldn´t be more proud.”
Both sides had early chances with Barca teenager
Alejandro Balde testing goalkeeper Filip Kurto at the near post in the sixth
minute as the visitors quickly settled into a free-flowing rhythm.
Dembele went close and Gavi should have done
better when Alves found him with a cross as the chances began piling up.
The breakthrough finally came with Gavi feeding
Dembele after intercepting a pass and the Frenchman drilling the ball into the
right-hand corner.
But the All Stars came out firing in the second
half.
Reno Piscopo bundled the ball into the net two
minutes after the restart, and they caught Barcelona napping again six minutes
later with a counter-attack that Adama Traore — who shares the same name as
the Barca winger — finished with a tap-in.
Rattled, the Spaniards reset and Barcelona´s
Traore made it 2-2 in the 72nd minute with a vicious shot that was saved but
trickled over the line.
Fati got the winner five minutes later, curling
the ball into the net after good work from Antonio Aranda. The All Stars nearly
ruined the party, Garang Kuol rattling the post with three minutes left.
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