On Sunday, Barcelona will compete against Serie A Side Como in the Joan Gamper -Trophy, their traditional season opener, in the Estadi Johan Cruyff. It has been a productive campaign for the season for the side of Hansi Flick after three three victories during their tour through Japan and South Korea, and now they have returned home with the intention of achieving a new victory.
Flick will be without the now out of Inigo Martinez, after his move to Al-Nassr, while Robert Lewandowski is injured. Dani Olmo is also expected to be equipped because he suffers from muscle fatigue, which means that Barcelona must make changes to their “gala XI”.
According to the sport, it is expected that Ronald Araujo will get the nod to play with Pau Cubarsi in the middle of the middle, while Gavi is preferred to Fermin Lopez in midfield. At the attack, Marcus Rashford is expected to make his first start since he arrived from Manchester United, after he scored the last time against Daegu FC.
Como, led by former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas, is expected to take a line-up with a number of familiar faces. EX-LA Masia star Alex Valle, who left the Catalans earlier this summer, will start in addition to Jesus Rodriguez and Assane Diao-Been formerly from real betis and also ex-Reale Madrid player Nico Paz Nico Paz.
It will be interesting to see how Barcelona deals with their first match of the season against European opposition. Many supporters hope for a new strong campaign in 2025-26 after the exploits of Flick's Side in the last 12 months, and a good performance against Como could also encourage optimism for the LA Liga opener against Mallorca next weekend.