DBasia.news – Barcelona started their pre-season with a landslide victory over Gimnastic. This match became a stage for the young Blaugrana players to show their teeth.
In the match that took place at the Estadio Johan Cruyff, Thursday (22/7), Barcelona beat Gimnastic with a score of 4-0. All the goals came in the second half.
Ronald Koeman immediately fielded his main players such as Gerard Pique, Segino Dest, Samuel Umtiti, Sergi Roberto, and Miralem Pjanic from the start of the match. But El Barca difficulty dismantling the opponent’s defense.
Even though Gimnastic had to play with ten players since the 37th minute, Quintanilla got a straight red card after committing a dangerous foul.
In the second half, Koeman replaced all his players. This time the Barcelona squad is full of young blood. This decision bears a sweet fruit. Barcelona was able to record four goals without conceding.
24-year-old Rey Manaj emerged as a hero by scoring a hat-trick. Another goal was scored by Alex Collado.
This result made Koeman greeted with joy. He did not hesitate to praise a number of young players who looked impressive.
“Everyone has been able to highlight his qualities, especially the young children, although I will not mention their names. It was a good game,” said Koeman after the game.
Apart from Manaj and Collado who scored goals, Yusuf Demir’s performance was also promising. He troubled the Gimnastic defense throughout the first half.
Even so, Koeman did not want to be lulled by this result. He is also reluctant to give guarantees to young players to be involved in the first team.
As is known, the majority of Barcelona’s main players are still enjoying their holidays after appearing in the European Cup and Copa America. So the true quality of Koeman’s concoction has not been seen.
“Everyone has come back well and we have been training hard. This is our first game and we have to catch up physically.”
“It’s important for us to have other players, because we have very little time to train with the whole squad.”