Olot 1-1 Barcelona: Pablo Torre shows spark as Xavi and Co kick off season
The first pre-season game took place north of Catalonia and there were some positives
Every season starts somewhere and this wasn’t a bad place for Xavi Hernandez’s team to begin, even if it ended up in a draw.
There weren’t many conclusions to draw, but there were some nice details, like some fine play by Pablo Torre, the new arrival, who also took corners in the first half. It was also good to see Franck Kessie make his first appearance, and in the second half, see Ansu Fati and Pedri feature.
There were many changes at half-time, by when both goals had already been scored.
Barcelona opened the scoring through the always deadly Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored a clever lob after Marc-Andre ter Stegen found him with a long pass.
Youngster Mika Marmol gave away a cheap penalty, however, and Olot levelled through Eloi Amagat.
Perhaps the player of the first half was Torre, who also set up Aubameyang with a good move in midfield and well weighted pass.
After the break there wasn’t too much to write home about, except Ansu wearing the captain’s armband and Alex Valle hitting the post. Most importantly, the season is underway.
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