Less than a week before the end of their first league match against Valencia, Barcelona AS Monaco suffered a 0-3 defeat in their last pre-season match. With the defeat, the Catalans were unable to win the Joan Gamper Trophy for the first time in 12 years.
The two sides met at the Montjuic Stadium on Monday night, with Barcelona fans booing the likes of Frenkie de Jong and Clement Lenglet, the club’s two highest earners. It was a lacklustre performance from the Spanish club, with three second-half goals from the visitors enough to compound their problems.
The score went into the break at 0-0, with Raphinha’s goal ruled out for offside. Coach Hansi Flick didn’t seem to have a clue what he was doing and made two changes at the break: Andreas Christensen and midfielder Pablo Torre were replaced by Sergi Dominguez and Ilkay Gundogan.
The former Manchester City player was replaced by Ferran Torres just 20 minutes later as the German was accused of slowing down the team’s pace. A mix-up in defence led to Barça He conceded the first goal, Gundogan lost the ball and Breel Embolo doubled Monaco’s lead.
Before the end of normal time, Christian Mawissa added a third goal to add lustre to the scoreline. The last time Barcelona failed to win the Joan Gamper Trophy was in 2012, when Sampdoria won 1-0.
The early signs are not good for Barca, who will have to regroup and prepare for a long season that begins with a trip to Mestalla to face Valencia. With the club’s coffers already dry and rivals Real Madrid spending money on Kylian Mbappe after winning a La Liga and Champions League double last season, next year will be a tough one for the Catalans unless they can improve dramatically.
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