Three Barcelona players confirmed to miss first pre-season test against CE Europa | OneFootball

After 15 demanding training sessions, FC Barcelona players will finally get their first taste of match action.

Hansi Flick’s side face Europa this evening (20:00 CET) behind closed doors at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in what will serve as the team’s first pre-season fixture.

Europa, who compete in Primera RFEF, arrive after a summer of significant changes, including the departure of head coach Aday Benítez and several key players such as Jordi Cano.

Despite the opposition’s rebuild, the match offers Barcelona’s youngsters an opportunity to impress in a first-team environment.

Three confirmed absences

And, according to SPORT, three players currently training with the first team are expected to miss the match.

Ronald Araujo continues to work individually after returning from international duty earlier this week and is not expected to rejoin full training until the squad arrives in Birmingham. As such, he will not be involved in the behind-closed-doors game today.

Balde set to miss the friendly vs Europa. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)

Alejandro Balde has also been following an individual fitness programme and has not trained with the main group since Saturday. As a result, he will also not feature against Europa.

The third absentee is Hafiz Gariba, who has been unavailable since last Friday due to a fever and is still recovering.

First chance to impress

Although the Catalans consider the fixture a training match rather than a traditional friendly, it represents an important opportunity for Flick to evaluate his squad before next week’s training camp in England.

Barcelona travel to Birmingham on Monday for a pre-season camp that runs until 4 August. During the trip, they will face Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on 31 July before taking on Preston North End in another training fixture on 4 August.

For tonight’s match, Flick is expected to field two different line-ups, with one team playing each half.

The German coach has a large group to choose from, including 17 players from Barça Atletic and Juvenil A, alongside senior stars Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Wojciech Szczesny, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard Martin, Marc Bernal, Hector Fort and Roony Bardghji.

Will Ter Stegen play vs Europa? (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

One remaining question concerns Ter Stegen, who continues negotiations over a proposed move to Ajax.

With the transfer still awaiting final administrative details, Flick may instead divide the goalkeeping duties between Szczesny, Aron Yaakobishvili and youngster Iker Rodriguez.

Meanwhile, Karim Adeyemi is not expected to make his unofficial debut. Having only completed Friday morning’s training session with his new teammates, the German forward is considered highly unlikely to be involved, with any appearance coming as a surprise.