Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal: 5 players who were impressive for the Catalans
Arsenal traveled to the Camp Nou to face Barcelona on Sunday night for the Joan Gamper trophy. For the Gunners, the game marked the final preparatory fixture ahead of a long and exciting Premier League season. Barcelona though have a couple of weeks more until the La Liga starts.
Besides being a matchup between two old foes, the game was also a clash of wits between two managers who under-achieved last season.
Unai Emery managed to pull Arsenal through to the final of the 2018-19 UEFA Europa League, but his team was convincingly defeated by a spirited Chelsea side. The Gunners finished 5th in the Premier League table.
Ernesto Valverde fared a tad better with Barcelona, managing to win the league by a mile, but his wards faltered in both the UEFA Champions League as well as the Copa del Rey finals. The Spaniard will be hoping that the upcoming season will yield success on the European front and as such, this game was a good test of his squad's depth.
Valderde started with Neto in goal, while Nelson Semedo, Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Jordi Alba made up the back four. In the midfield, he stationed Frenkie de Jong alongside Ivan Rakitic and Riqui Puig.
The front three comprised of Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and Carles Perez.
The Catalans started the game strong, but it was the Premier League side who took the lead through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 36th minute. Valverde made a host of changes during the break and in the second half, but Barcelona required an own goal from Ainsley Maitland-Niles to draw level.
Just when it looked like the game would go to penalties, Luiz Suarez scored the winner with probably the last kick of the ball.
On a night where Barcelona were missing quite a few of their first team members, these five men were instrumental in winning the game for the Catalans.
#5 Gerard Pique
The Spaniard looked at home right from the start of the game and handled Arsenal's attack with ease. Aubameyang got little joy out of him, as Pique rarely gave the Gabon international any room to maneuver a chance. There was nothing much he could do about the goal though, as Samuel Umtiti and Jordi Alba were caught out of position.
Despite conceding the goal, Pique was strong at the back and looked very comfortable on the ball. He is yet to regain full fitness ahead of the season, but Pique gave a fine account of himself on the night.