La Masia stars steal the show as Barcelona register first pre-season win over CE Europa

Barcelona opened their pre-season campaign with an encouraging 4-1 victory over CE Europa, but apart from the scoreline, the match belonged to La Masia as a host of young talents impressed Hansi Flick in the club’s first friendly of the summer.

Having returned to training on July 13, the match offered Barcelona players their first opportunity to build fitness ahead of the new season.

As expected, the German coach relied heavily on youngsters and reserve-team players, using the game to assess individual performances rather than chase a convincing result.

Goals from Ibrahim Diarra, Hector Fort, Ebrima Tunkara and Alex Gonzalez sealed a comfortable win behind closed doors, giving Flick plenty of positives to take from his side’s opening outing.

La Masia impresses as Barcelona ease past CE Europa

The friendly match showcased the strength of Barcelona’s academy, with several homegrown players making the most of their opportunity.

As such, Diarra opened the scoring before Fort added another as Barcelona established control early on.

Barcelona registered a commanding win over CE Europa. (Picture credit: Instagram/@fcbarcelona)

Tunkara and Alex Gonzalez also found the net to complete an impressive team display, underlining the quality emerging from La Masia.

Although Barcelona were clearly the better side throughout, the coaching staff’s main focus was never the final result.

Instead, the priority was to build match fitness, assess the squad’s physical condition, and allow several young players to experience senior football under Flick.

With many established first-team players unavailable, the encounter provided valuable minutes for footballers hoping to strengthen their case before the competitive campaign begins.

Fringe players get opportunity

One of the biggest talking points from Barcelona’s first pre-season friendly was Flick’s decision to give opportunities to players whose futures remain unresolved this summer.

Four La Masia players were on the scoresheet. (Picture credit: Instagram/@fcbarcelona)

Marc Casado, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Roony Bardghji were all involved even though their futures are uncertain.

Furthermore, New signing Karim Adeyemi was not included in the matchday group.

Having only completed his first training session with his new teammates earlier in the day, the coaching staff felt it was too soon to hand the German winger his unofficial debut.

Lastly, Ronald Araujo and Alejandro Balde also missed the fixture, while Marc Bernal was left out after experiencing minor discomfort.

Barcelona chose not to take any unnecessary risks with the youngster at such an early stage of pre-season.