Thursday, August 7, 2014

BARCELONA SUFFERED DEFEAT TO NAPOLI IN PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY

Barçelona of Spain suffered their first pre-season defeat against Napoli losing 1-0 in Geneva after debutant Claudio Bravo botched a routine save from Blerim Dzemaili's strike, fanning the flames of the debate over who should start in goal for the 'Azulgranas'.

Advantage Ter Stegen after Bravo's debut blunder
Barcelona lost 1-0 to Napoli in a pre-season friendly

Wednesday's match gave an indication that Luis Enrique's new-look Barcelona are far from the finished article. Though several big names were missing, the starting XI remained flush with first-team experience, but it wasn't enough to overcome a very professional Napoli side.

Munir El Haddadi and Pedro carried the main threat for Barça in the first half, during which Bravo pulled off a great stop from Marek Hamšík to keep the scores level. That save could have told the story of the Chilean's debut for the Catalans, but fate had other plans.

Barça looked disjointed in the second period after a raft of substitutions, keeping up their intensity and bossing possession as ever, but struggling to create openings. The bright spark was Gerard Deulofeu, who gave the team a second wind after coming on with 15 minutes to go and had a couple of decent chances, only to be thwarted by Rafael Cabral.

Napoli's goal came against the run of play, when Džemaili let fly from the edge of the box and Bravo somehow allowed the strike to slip through his fingers.

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