In Barcelona’s traditional season curtain-raiser, it was a display of relentless attacking football against the Mexican side in which new signings like Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha showed their new fans what they can do.
Barca beat 6-0 Pumas UNAM
Barcelona put on an impressive show in front of their supporters at the Camp Nou on Sunday during the Gamper Trophy, defeating Pumas 6-0. In Barcelona’s traditional season curtain-raiser, it was a display of relentless attacking football against the Mexican side in which new signings like Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha showed their new fans what they can do. At the same time, the likes of Pedri and Gavi reaffirmed what the Catalan faithful already knew. It didn’t take long for the Polish striker to get off the mark. With less than two minutes on the clock, Lewandowski rounded the goalkeeper, checked onto his right foot and squeezed the ball home from an acute angle. Two minutes later, he turned provider, threading a perfect through ball to Pedri, who also rounded the goalkeeper before tapping into an empty net.
Dani Alves was given a hero’s ovation
By the tenth minute, Barcelona were 3-0 up. Raphinha, down the right, cut the ball back to Ousmane Dembele, who struck powerfully into the bottom corner. On 18 minutes, it was 4-0. Eric Garcia played a pass into the feet of Lewandowski, who slipped in Pedri with a great left-footed flick. The youngster cut inside his marker before slotting into the corner. Many changes occurred during the break, including Franck Kessie and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The pair combined to make it 5-0 on 48 minutes as the new midfielder played a ball across the goal for the Gabonese to tap home. Dani Alves was given a hero’s ovation as he left the field before the hour mark on his return to the Camp Nou.
Despite taking their foot slightly off the gas in the last period of the game, there was time for one more. Frenkie de Jong robbed his opponent of the ball high up the field and finished off the chance by himself with a calm finish. Although Xavi won’t be getting carried away, it was certainly an ideal way to end pre-season, with the fans now being confident about what lies ahead.