FC Barcelona won its second friendly match of its Asian tour on Thursday. The Catalans beat FC Seoul 7-3 in a spectacular encounter.
In sweltering temperatures, Hansi Flick sent out a well-rehearsed starting line-up that could well be the one to start La Liga. Goalkeeper Garcia was the only summer signing for the Catalans. On the other side, much of the focus was on captain Lingard, who brought with him the experience of 182 Premier League games.
However, the favorites immediately exuded dominance and took a deserved lead: Dani Olmo set up Lamine Yamal, whose shot off the post rebounded to Lewandowski. The Pole, who is said to be courted by clubs in Saudi Arabia a year before his contract expires, finished coolly (8′).
Just six minutes later, Barcelona were already on the road to victory when Lamine Yamal, after a long dribble and with a little luck, was able to shoot into the bottom right corner to make it 2-0 (14′).
Suddenly, Seoul even equalized
Barcelona eased off the intensity a little, and Raphinha thrashed the ball into the side netting. Seoul, however, now sought salvation more and more in attack – and got a deserved goal: Cho thundered the ball into the net with the help of the underside of the crossbar after a costly mistake by Lamine Yamal (26).
It wasn’t until shortly before half-time that the game picked up pace again – but then it really took off: Dani Olmo pushed the ball just wide of the right-hand post from a 100% chance (45′), before Al-Arab escaped his opponent Koundé and coolly slotted home to make it 2-2 (45+1). However, the score remained unchanged at half-time because Lamine Yamal once again dribbled his way through and fired a powerful shot into the top left corner (45+3).
Rashford sets up the final score
With the score at 3-2 at the break, Flick changed his entire team. Of the new players, Rashford was the first to make his mark, but his long-range shot was saved (52′). Three minutes later, however, Christensen fired home from Gavi’s pass to make it 4-2 in the bottom left corner (55′).
It was the start of a goal-filled second half, with the action really heating up in the final quarter of an hour: Ferran Torres and Gavi added to the tally within two minutes, before Jung scored the much-celebrated 3-6 five minutes before the end (85). Ferran Torres finally put the icing on the cake, coolly slotting the ball into the bottom right corner after a pass from Rashford (88).
With a 7-3 win under their belts, Barcelona now travel to Daegu, where they will face Daegu FC on Monday.
