In the early morning match on August 5, Barcelona hosted Salzburg of Austria. Coach Ronald Koeman made it clear that a traditional 433 formation would be used, and the match unfolded accordingly.
In the starting lineup, in-form winger Depay has been reshuffled from left winger to center forward, while Griezmann has switched to left winger to form a formidable attacking duo with youngster Pek. The midfield is led by De Jong, Busquets and Gavi, while the backline features Longley and Alaure, with goalkeeper Neto in goal.
Pique, Pjanic, Umtiti and Roberto were among the stars on the bench.
Salzburg, once Harland's team, has lost its former glory after Harland joined Dortmund.
This was Barcelona's fourth warm-up game since July, winning the first three, scoring and conceding 10 and 1. Depay has been in excellent form since his debut.
The 176cm Depay, who considers himself adept at the center forward position, was slightly underperforming against Aguero, who is also 173cm tall.
In the 17th minute, Barcelona corner kick, Griezmann header, but unfortunately over the crossbar. In the 24th minute, Barcelona made a mistake at the back, Salzburg quickly counterattacked, Okafor pushed the empty goal, fortunately hit the fly. In the 29th and 37th minutes, Okafor had another chance to score, but were unsuccessful.
In the 42nd minute, Susic took a long shot from the outside and the ball was refracted into the net, leaving Barcelona 0:1 down.
In the second half, Barcelona remained passive on the field, and in the 54th minute, Olsen broke through the defense and Okafor's shot was blocked by a defender. In the 82nd minute, Dexter shot, the ball bounced to Bryce Witt into the net, Barcelona 1:1 equalization.
In the 90th minute, Salzburg again created a threat, Adham shot hit the post, Olsen supplemented the empty net, finally, Barcelona 1:2 lost to Salzburg, suffered the first defeat in pre-season warm-up games.
Full time stats, Barcelona had 13 shots and 3 shots on goal, Salzburg had 14 shots and 3 shots on goal, possession 60%:40%, Barcelona had a slight edge in possession.
Depay arrived at Barcelona stating that he wanted to score goals and win titles, but the performance in this game seems to have made him a little too optimistic.
Fans, netizens say Barcelona still need to wait for Messi's return.
Currently, the main task for Barcelona is to sign a new contract with Messi. According to media reports, Barcelona cannot complete the registration of Messi without selling Coutinho and Griezmann and perhaps making them take a pay cut.
However, good news came! La Liga League and CVC Capital Partners reached an agreement, CVC will inject 2.7 billion euros into La Liga and La Liga B clubs, Barcelona can share 280 million euros, the total annual salary limit can go up by 40 million euros, and Barcelona is expected to complete the renewal of Messi's contract and registration.
Barcelona will face Juve in the Copa del Gamba on August 8, and if all goes well, Messi could even make his debut in that match.
