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With 90 minutes of pre-season action under their belts, FC Barcelona must take on Oslo-based Valerenga tonight in their second friendly of pre-season at the Ullevaal Stadion. The hosts have taken on this fixture in the middle of their league campaign, and are even in action on Monday night, against Sarpsborg 08; meaning that while they will be in superior condition, they will also be somewhat distracted with one eye on that important league fixture.
As a result of this hectic schedule, Valerenga boss Kjetil Rekdal has named a 22-man squad for tonight's match, and admitted that each member of that squad is likely to see some playing time. Therefore, similar to Wednesday's match, this friendly is very much a game of two halves, as both sides are likely to rotate their entire starting XIs at the half-time interval.
This obviously means more game-time for 10 lucky members of the B team; who were incredibly impressive on Wednesday against the reigning European Champions. Against weaker opposition, the B team players may even fancy their chances at scoring a goal or two tonight; or at least giving poor Jean-Marie Dongou a bit of service in attack. At the Allianz Arena, Dongou put in the effort, chasing every loose ball but was rewarded with barely a single touch of the ball, particularly in dangerous areas. And the same could be said of Lionel Messi. The Argentine tracked back to help his defense on numerous occasions, but barely made an impact at the opposite end of the field -- thanks to a weakened Barca midfield and a strong Bayern display.
Will Messi score his first goal of pre-season? Can the B team continue to impress? Will Barcelona pick up their first win of pre-season? Predict the score of tonight's encounter by commenting below -- remember, one prediction per member and all predictions must be made prior to kick-off. Best of luck!