Dembele’s departure, gastroenteritis, defeat to Madrid: Barca’s hectic journey in America

Las Vegas (USA), 2 August (EFE) With two wins in three games, Ousmane Dembele is also likely to leave Paris Saint-Germain.

FC Barcelona’s pre-season tour of the United States began on a bumpy road in Los Angeles, with FC Barcelona having to cancel their first friendly against Juventus at the San Francisco Bay due to a stomach virus affecting a significant portion of their squad.

Javi Hernandez’s side, who missed one of four friendlies, must also revise their training program to allow all players to recover.

Having overcome that misfortune, Barcelona made their pre-season debut against a more complete, physical and stronger Arsenal, who beat them 5-3 in Los Angeles.

As well as the poor state of the pitch at Sophie Stadium in California, Xavi lamented the “intensity” of Mikel Arteta’s side as it was a friendly.

The next stop is the most special of the tour: a new classic friendly against Real Madrid, this time in Dallas.

The Whites appeared to arrive with extra momentum after two victories in their first two friendlies in the United States, but Coore beat their most formidable opponents 3-0.

Barcelona have won three of their three games against Madrid in the US preseason.

Aside from Dembele’s valuable goal in a strategic move (which may have been his last in a Barcelona shirt), the great man of this classic game was the young Fermin Lopez, who scored in the second half with a brilliant left-footed effort, put the ball in the net. He made his debut for the Gunners at Barcelona and provided an assist for Ferran Torres’ third and final goal.

“I caught the ball, I saw the goal, I went forward, I hit the ball with my soul and it turned out well,” concluded the youth team.

Dembele and the team are closing

The soap opera about Dembele’s future had been brewing from the days leading up to the classic and exploded in Barcelona’s 0-1 win over Milan on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Xavi admitted The France striker has asked to leave.

“Hausman’s problem was simple: he brought an offer from Paris, he wanted to leave, he spoke to Luis Enrique and the people of Paris, he made an offer that we cannot match,” the president told a news conference. proposal.” Dembele was left out of the squad following a friendly.

“At the end I think he’ll give an explanation and it doesn’t matter how I feel. Disappointed, maybe yes, but what matters is that the player has made it clear. He told us he wanted to leave and he’s been there. It’s a proposal, from this In a sense, we cannot compete at the moment,” he added.

Although Ansu Fati’s superb goal against Milan made him very happy that Dembele could leave, Xavi has been insisting that more signings are needed in his two fortnights in the United States.

Of the new players already confirmed this year, Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu have been able to make their debuts in these friendlies, but Inigo Martinez has yet to make his debut as a Barcelona player due to his fitness. debut.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, also let the tour sit empty, as his back problems prevented him from competing.

In addition to the expected ins and outs in a very busy Barcelona market, the tour also confirmed the club’s four captains for the new season: Sergi Roberto, Ter Stegen, Ronald Araujo and Frankie De Jong.

David Villafranca

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