Barcelona look forward to hosing Arsenal for the Joan Gamper trophy

While it’s not quite the Champions League final, Barcelona will hope to have the same fortune they did against Arsenal this time around…

Ahead of the Joan Gamper Trophy that will be celebrated this upcoming Sunday, Barcelona will face English club Arsenal. Arsenal versus Barcelona encounters are always entertaining to watch, whether it’s a pre-season game or an official game. You must know that in this game, there will be goals included.

This will be the tenth time that Barcelona faces Arsenal giving them an impressive record against the London based team. With six wins, two draws and one loss, Barcelona shows that they are clear dominants in these head to head games.

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Their last meeting occurred March 2016 where Barcelona hosted Arsenal in the second leg of the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona came up victorious with a 3-1 margin and a 5-1 aggregate that would see the Catalans qualify to the Quarterfinals.

There’s been a total of 22 goals in favor of the Spaniards and have only received 11 goals. The player with the most goals between these two sides is Argentine superstar Lionel Messi scoring nine goals in all of his six encounters against the English side.

The most memorable match between these two was in the 2006 Champions League Final, a game that took place in Stade de France, Paris. The two sides were heavily filled with amazing players, on the Barcelona side the likes of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Deco, and Carles Puyol completed a strong lineup. Arsenal had the likes of Frenchman Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Ashley Cole, and Kolo Toure.

A game in which Barcelona started from behind following a goal from Sol Campbell that would put the “Gunners” ahead on the score sheet. Minutes later a red card was shown to German International Jens Lehmann after a bad foul on Samuel Eto’o just outside the Arsenal penalty box, making this a turning point in the match. With a mad down, Arsenal were forced to defend the result and hope for the best.

In the second half, things would change for the better with a goal in the 76thminute after a quick one-touch pass, Cameroonian International Samuel Eto’o tied the game. Pouring rain all over Paris, a great play on the right saw Juliano Belletti score with ten minutes left on the clock. Barcelona coming from behind would win the match 2-1 and conquering the second Champions League in club history.

Barcelona will face Arsenal this upcoming Sunday. This will be the official presentation to all the lucky fans who will attend the game. This will be an interesting match given the fact that the rest of the first team players will return to activity and we can see a complete lineup, and what Ernesto Valverde will do to accommodate everyone on the team.

What is your score prediction for this pre-season friendly?