Before heading to the U.S to play CD Guadalajara in Chicago and the Red Bulls in New York Barcelona stopped in Scotland for two pre-season friendlies.
First Barca opened up by thrashing Hibs 6-0 at Murrayfield, giving new Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola his first victory.An Eidur Gudjohnsen double and goals from Lionel Messi and Pedro in the first half were followed by further breakthroughs from Bojan and Yaya Toure after the break as Hibs were outclassed. In this game Daniel Alves and Gerard Pique made their debuts for Barcelona from the start, while fellow summer signings Martin Caceres, Alexander Hleb and Seydou Keita started on the bench.
Barcelona then moved to Tannadice where the thrashed Dundee United 5-1. In this game Dundee actually scored first through Prince Buaben before Thierry Henry restored parity for the Catalan giants. In the second half Barcelona gave Dundee a footballing lesson as Lionel Messi came on and scored a hat-trick. Out-of-favor striker Samuel Eto’o also added his name to the score sheet.
Barcelona have been the most impressive top European team this pres-season, not just for a goals perspective but also from the style of play that they have shown. The game in Chicago against CD Guadalajara should be a good test for them as CD are the best team they will have faced so far this pre-season.
After watching how Barca tore apart Hibs and Dundee I am really worried about the thrashing that might be coming the Red Bulls way. New York has really struggled this year in MLS and Barcelona are by far the best team they will play all year. It might well be a question of how many goals do Barcelona want to score next weekend in the Meadowlands!