Barcelona to face Pumas & Montpellier in Joan Gamper Trophy

Barcelona have announced new arrangements for the Joan Gamper Trophy match after AS Roma pulled out of the traditional pre-season friendly.

Xavi’s side will now take on Mexican side Pumas on 7 August at the Camp Nou, while Barca Femeni will face French side Montpellier on 23 August at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.

Barca have explained the reason for the teams playing on different days is because of the difficulty of finding opponents at short notice. The decision to play the women’s game later also means those players featuring at Euro 2022 will be available.

The men’s match comes before Barca start their new league season against Rayo Vallecano, but Pumas have already been in action and may be a bit sharper. The Mexicans began preseason back at the end of May and kicked off the Apertura league calendar with a 1-1 draw against Xolos de Tijuana on 3 July.