Barcelona played their first pre-season fixture of the summer of 2022 on Wednesday evening against Olot. They drew the game 1-1. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring in the 28th minute before Eloi Amagat equalised from the spot in the 45th.
But the result was never going to be the most important thing. This was a chance for Xavi Hernandez’s players to get minutes into their legs and get used to working with new team-mates.
Franck Kessie made his debut after joining from Milan this summer and so did youngsters Pablo Torre, Alex Valle, Arnau Casas, Chadi Riad, Fabio Blanco and Marc Casado.
Barcelona will now leave Catalonia and fly to the United States, where they have a series of friendlies lined up. They’ll play Inter Miami, Real Madrid, Juventus and New York Red Bulls before returning home to face Pumas in the Joan Gamper Trophy. They open the 2022/23 season against Rayo Vallecano on August 13th.