Barcelona begin preseason with convincing win over Europa as youngsters impress | OneFootball

FC Barcelona opened their 2026-27 pre-season campaign with a comfortable 4-1 victory over CE Europa in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper.

The result offered Hansi Flick an encouraging first look at his squad after the summer break, with several academy players taking their chance to impress while new signing Karim Adeyemi watched on without making his debut.

According to Mundo Deportivo, the German forward completed his first full training session earlier in the day but was not included in the matchday plans. He is now expected to make his first appearance against Birmingham during the club’s training camp in England.

Barcelona’s opening pre-season goals all came from academy graduates.

Ibrahim Diarra opened the scoring before Hector Fort doubled the advantage in the first half. Europa briefly reduced the deficit before Ebrima Tunkara and Alex Gonzalez sealed the victory after the break.

Flick used the fixture primarily as a high-intensity training exercise rather than a competitive friendly, rotating his players across both halves and giving valuable minutes to several young prospects.

Wojciech Szczesny started in goal before Marc-Andre ter Stegen replaced him after the interval, in what could prove to be the German’s final appearance before his expected loan move to Ajax.

Positive signs before England trip

The scoreline matters far less than the performances at this stage of pre-season, but there were still several encouraging takeaways for Barcelona.

Young players such as Brian Farinas, Shane Kluivert and Ibrahim Diarra continued to build on the positive impressions they have made during pre-season training, strengthening their cases to remain involved with the senior squad.

Meanwhile, Alejandro Balde, Ronald Araujo and Marc Bernal all continued individual training programmes and were not risked, underlining Flick’s cautious approach to managing workloads after a demanding summer.

Adeyemi’s absence should not be viewed as a concern. Having only just joined his new teammates, it was always sensible to give him additional time to adapt before introducing him to match action.

Barcelona’s pre-season now moves to England, where the level of competition will increase and Flick will begin refining his preferred starting line-up.