Football club Barcelona prepares for a pre-season friendly in Basel without midfielders Pedri and Gavi, while integrating international returnees and young talent ahead of upcoming matches.
FC Barcelona will play another friendly test tomorrow, Sunday, against the Swiss selection in the city of Basel, as part of its preparation for the new season, in a match marked by the return of several internationals who took part in the World Cup with their respective national teams, after joining the team’s training sessions during this week.
Barça is traveling to Basel for another pre-season friendly match. The Blaugrana will face a club with which they share many links (whether in terms of colors or the origins of Joan Gamper) in a match that will also allow them to refine their automatisms before the Joan Gamper Trophy on Wednesday, and the first day of the championship at Elche next Sunday.
The squad has traveled to Switzerland for a new pre-season test as part of the preparation program established by coach Hansi Flick. The match against Switzerland is of particular importance for Flick, as it represents an opportunity to evaluate the availability of his internationals, alongside the examination of several rising talents seeking to attract the attention of the technical staff and reserve a place in the first team’s plans at the kickoff of the new season.
Squad Selections and Notable Absences for the Basel Fixture
According to the Spanish daily “Mundo Deportivo,” Hansi Flick, the coach of FC Barcelona, has decided to call up several internationals for this match, with the exception of the midfield duo consisting of Pedri and Gavi, while the list includes Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Joan García, Eric García, Pau Cubarsí, Gordon and Jules Koundé, so that these players have the opportunity to appear in the friendly match against Basel.
FC Barcelona has already flown to Switzerland in preparation for the match scheduled for tomorrow, as part of the preparation program established by Flick to prepare the team before the start of the season, while offering players returning from international participation the possibility of gradually regaining match rhythm.
Furthermore, this match will be an opportunity to see several players in action who joined training under the direction of Hansi Flick this week. To this end, the German coach has called up a group of 24 players for this trip to Basel; the match will be broadcast live on Barça Play in Spain.
The club confirmed a group of 24 players for the trip to Switzerland. The called-up group is as follows: Joan García, Balde, Cortés, Cubarsí, Abdelkarim, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Xavi Espart, Szczesny, Orian Goren, Christensen, Fermín, Adeyemi, Gerard Martin, Gordon, Olmo, Fariñas, Bernal, Kounde, Eric, Pesquer, Bisiwu, Ebrima Tunkara and Eder Aller.
Youth Integration and Roster Adjustments
The team list that traveled to Basel saw the integration of several young players, led by the reserve team goalkeeper Eder Aller, who took part in the first team’s training today to compensate for the absence of Aron Yaakobishvili, in a context where the latter’s transfer to Almería continues to stall.
Flick also called up another group of young talents to complete the team list, namely Álvaro Cortés, Xavi Espart, Jordi Pesquer, Brian Fariñas, Aurin Gourin and Yessi Bissioou, alongside the Egyptian Hamza Abdelkarim and Ibrima Toncara.
Upcoming Schedule and Pre-Season Context
While the traveling party incorporates several returning internationals including Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Joan García, Eric García, Pau Cubarsí, Gordon, and Jules Koundé, the midfield pairing of Pedri and Gavi remains absent from the roster (as reported by the outlet).
Beyond evaluating fitness, the match serves to refine tactical automatisms.
The team aims to build match rhythm ahead of the Joan Gamper Trophy on Wednesday and the opening league fixture against Elche scheduled for Sunday, setting up a demanding stretch of competition.
