Xavi Hernandez got his first sighting of what is supposed to be a new-look Barcelona this season and it might not have been to his taste.
Admittedly the Blaugrana only fielded two of their new signings on the day, with youngster Pablo Torre and Franck Kessie seeing their first minutes in midfield together.
Barcelona’s only goal of the game came through route one, as Marc-Andre ter Stegen went long after recovering the ball. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang latched onto it to lob the ball into the corner. On the stroke of half-time, an Olot attacker got to the ball ahead of Mika Marmol and Eloi Amagat converted the resulting penalty for the home side.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen assists Barcelona’s first goal of the preseason, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang the scorer.
They’re drawing 1-1 with Olot at half-time.pic.twitter.com/gxy02IQR6C
— Football España (@footballespana_) July 13, 2022
Ez Abde, Torre and Ilias Akhomach showed some nice touches in the first half, but Xavi made nine changes at the break, with headline acts Ansu Fati and Pedri playing 45 minutes. Miralem Pjanic and Alex Collado also played the second half, having returned from their loans.
Barcelona looked static at points in the second half though as they struggled to break Olot down. When they did so, their goalkeeper Albert Batalla was present to shut everything else down, most notably two big chances for Pedri.
The result will not overly worry Xavi, especially given much of his side was composed of Juvenil and Atletic players. The positives were that Pedri and Fati were moving well, even if they couldn’t score.
