A youthful Barcelona side began Hansi Flick’s third season in charge with a comfortable 4-1 pre-season victory over local Catalan rivals CE Europa on Friday.
Played behind closed doors at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, the friendly marked the first meeting between the founding La Liga members since the 1998 Catalonia Cup final.
Ibrahim Diarra opened the scoring for the hosts in the 13th minute, settling a lineup heavily populated by academy prospects and missing several senior stars.
Defender Héctor Fort doubled Barcelona’s advantage just before the half-hour mark, rewarding Flick’s experimental starting eleven as they comfortably dictated the tempo of the opening period.
Third-tier side CE Europa managed to find a brief foothold shortly before the break, as Flavio André struck in the 42nd minute to halve the deficit heading into half-time.
The second half saw the welcome return of goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, who replaced Wojciech Szczęsny to make his first appearance after months on the sidelines.
Substitute Ebrima Tunkara quickly restored the two-goal cushion for the hosts just three minutes after the restart, effectively ending any realistic hopes of a comeback from the visiting side.
Álex González then added a fourth in the 58th minute, capping off a dominant display from a squad missing key World Cup participants like Lamine Yamal and Gavi.
New forward signing Karim Adeyemi remained an unused substitute on the bench throughout the match, while senior figures like Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araújo were rested for precautionary reasons.
Barcelona will now travel to England for a pre-season training camp, where they are scheduled to face Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest in upcoming friendlies.
