La Liga may have wrapped up, but before Barcelona’s superstar lineup got to go on holiday they had an appointment Down Under, for an exhibition match against the best the A-League has to offer.
70,174 turned out at Stadium Australia in Sydney to watch European heavyweights Barcelona lineup opposite a team made up of the best players from the A-League. And they weren’t disappointed by the action either, with the hosts putting on a stirring show that almost caught the Catalan giants off guard. The Dwight Yorke-coached All Stars claimed an unlikely 2-1 lead in the second half before Barca came roaring back to claim victory.
The A-League Allstars have not featured in a match since 2014, but the fresh faces certainly didn’t let themselves down, going toe-to-toe with the superstars of Barcelona. And it’s not like Barcelona fielded a weakened team either, with five of Xavi's starting lineup having also started Sunday's loss to Villareal, boasting the likes of experienced campaigners Dani Alves and Busquets alongside the talented Dembele and the powerhouse that is Adama Traore. A glance at the scoresheet shows that Adama Traore had an eventful match, although that is because there were two of them, one on each side, and both scored for their respective teams.
Having taken the lead through Dembele, Barca were shocked early in the second half when Piscopo equalised, and that was followed up by the aforementioned Traore strike to see the Allstars ahead after 54 minutes. But that meant there was plenty of time for the inevitable comeback, Barca’s Traore firing a shot that was too hot for Redmayne to handle, before a returning Ansu Fati slipped the ball home after a slaloming run from Aranda. Plenty of entertainment all round.
Photography by Aleksandar Jason for SoccerBible.