Barcelona 2-3 Club América: summary, highlights & analysis

Barcelona lost to Liga MX side Club América in a mid-season friendly held at Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas, Texas.

Xavi Hernández finished the match against Almería on Wednesday night very angry with his players and just over 24 hours later was forced to assemble a team to play an obligatory friendly against 14-time title winners, Club América... in Dallas, Texas. It was, given the timing of the event, as inconvenient as it was inappropriate, but also necessary: the blaugrana needed the €5 million economic benefit that would come from the mid-season fixture.

So, the Catalan coach, with his lemons, made lemonade: he sent a message. In a match designed to raise funds and give minutes to young players, João Félix was a starter, something which made it clear to the Portuguese that his face is on the dartboard. In the end, Barça lost 2-3.

A poor turnout for the game

Presumably, Barcelona had not bet their income for the game on the attendance at the ground, as the game at Cotton Bowl Stadium did not bring in the masses. In such a colossal ground as the Texas venue, a low capacity stands out even further.

It may have been the rain or a lack of publicity in the run-up to the game, awkwardly fit in like a poorly executed wedding table arrangement. At least those who did go, and those who could watch on the internet (no Spanish TV channel picked up the game) could enjoy the delights of Lamine Yamal.

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Barcelona used 8 youth players

At 16-years-old, the Barcelona youngster, along with Marc Guiu, was the standout figure in the side that was composed of 8 youth team players and just 3 first team regulars.

Astralaga, Héctor Fort, Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Casadó, Unai, Yamal and Guiu were joined by the two half-time substitutes in the last LaLiga game: João Félix and Andreas Christensen, as well as Frenkie de Jong, who missed out completely against Almería.

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Lamine Yamal: Barça’s bright spark

Barcelona went ahead on 6 minutes thanks to a goal from Lamine Yamal: the winger robbed the ball on halfway and ran 40 metres before putting it past the Mexican goalkeeper. Las Águilas reacted immediately and a Quiñones backheel put things level after what was a delightful move from the Liga MX side.

Clearly showing a more positive physical condition to their cross-Atlantic rivals, Club América began to see the better of the game, with the LaLiga team forced to go time and time again to Lamine Yamal in order to create danger. Astralaga’s saves kept the Spanish side in the game and Marc Guiu put them ahead right before half-time after good work from Héctor Fort.

Xavi’s message to Barcelona

After the break and a myriad of changes (none of the first team players came out for the second half), the game was dominated by Club América. Quiñones got his second and Henry Martín added a third for the Mexican side who had used their experience to control the game, but even with Lewandowski now on the pitch, Barcelona could not find a breakthrough.

In the second half, it was only Fermín López and Ferran Torres who appeared interested for the blaugrana, with the former on the end of a nasty tackle and the latter getting revenge which ended up in a little scuffle on the field. Now, Barcelona can reflect on the game, the season so far and the message sent by the manager in a game that had both its benfits and drawbacks.

Barcelona

• 26 Ander Astralaga (61')
• 40 Gerard Martin (71')
• 15 A. Christensen (45')
• 33 Pau Cubarsí (71')
• 39 Hector Fort
• 21 Frenkie De Jong (45')
• 35 Unai Hernández (71')
• 30 Marc Casado (71')
• 27 Lamine Yamal (61')
• 14 João Félix (45')
• 38 Marc Guiu (75')
• Substitutes
• 22 Gündogan
• 40 Pau Prim (71')
• 18 Oriol Romeu (45')
• 31 Diego Kochen (61')
• 20 Sergi Roberto
• 29 Angel Galiot (61')
• 2 Cancelo (71')
• Mamadou Fall (71')
• 13 Iñaki Peña
• 32 Fermín López (71')
• 11 Raphinha
• 23 Koundé
• 7 Ferrán Torres (45')
• Mikayil Faye (45')
• 3 Alex Balde
• 9 Lewandowski (75')

América

• 1 Luis Malagón (45')
• 3 Israel Reyes
• 29 Roman Juarez del Castillo
• 5 Kevin Álvarez (45')
• 26 Salvador Reyes (61')
• 32 Leo Suárez (60')
• 6 Jonathan (45')
• 11 Jonathan Rodríguez (61')
• 17 Alejandro Zendejas (60')
• 20 Richard Sánchez
• 33 Julián Quiñones x2(61')
• Substitutes
• 16 Snatiago Naveda Lara (45')
• 8 Álvaro Fidalgo Fernández (61')
• 10 Diego Valdés (60')
• 2 Luis Fuentes (61')
• 4 Sebastián Cáceres
• 21 Henry Martin (61')
• 31 Igor Lichnovsky
• 7 Brian Rodríguez (60')
• 27 Óscar Jiménez (45')
• 23 Emilio Lara (45')

Substitutions

Ferran Torres (45', João Félix), Oriol Romeu (45', Frenkie de Jong), Mikayil Faye (45', Andreas Christensen), Emilio Lara (45', Kevin Álvarez), Óscar Jiménez (45', Luis Malagón), Santiago Naveda (45', Jonathan dos Santos), Diego Valdés (60', Leo Suárez), Brian Rodríguez (60', Álex Zendejas), Henry Martín (61', Julián Quiñones), Álvaro Fidalgo (61', Jonathan Rodríguez), Luis Fuentes (61', Salvador Reyes), Ángel Alarcón (61', Lamine Yamal), Diego Kochen (61', Ander Astralaga), Pau Prim (71', Marc Casadó), Fermín López (71', Unai Hernández), Mamadou Fall (71', Pau Cubarsí), João Cancelo (71', Gerard), Robert Lewandowski (75', Marc Guiu)

Goals

1-0, 5': Lamine Yamal, 1-1, 11': Julián Quiñones, 2-1, 27': Marc Guiu, 2-2, 49': Julián Quiñones, 2-3, 81': Henry Martin

Cards

Referee: Elton García
Fermín López (84',Yellow)