The FC Barcelona squad is gradually adding the bulk of its international players this preseason. In the Classic played in New Jersey (1-2), five players were able to add their first minutes of the summer, two of them making their debut as starters against Real Madrid. Both Marc-André ter Stegen and Andreas Christensen entered Hansi Flick's lineup, with the German goalkeeper being one of the figures of the clash.
The '1' wore the captain's armband and kept a clean sheet during the 65 minutes he was on the field. Ter Stegen completed one stop and 16 of 18 passes, in addition to recovering 5 balls. True to his custom, the one from Monchengladbach was a guarantee in the aerial game and was in full condition on his return to Barça. As for the Danish centre-back, he played a first half where he showed no cracks alongside Iñigo Martínez in the center of the defence. Andreas only missed one pass in 33 attempts, with a couple of duels won and 3 clearances.
Raphinha, Mika Faye and Gündogan had minutes in the complement
In the second half, the usual parade of changes allowed Raphinha, Mika Faye and Ílkay Gündogan to make their preseason debut. The Brazilian replaced the 'MVP' of the day, Pau Víctor, in the 65th minute. The one from Porto Alegre was very active on the right, with a shot on goal and 13 of 16 passes completed in 25 minutes, although he could only win one low duel in three attempts.
For his part, the Senegalese center-back joined for Iñigo in the same transfer window as the '11'. Mika showed signs of his quality and character, with a couple of clearances and 3 recovered balls. In addition, he had 25 of 28 successful passes, with a couple of duels won and one caused foul. In the case of Gündogan, the German came on for Marc Bernal in the 77th minute, with no errors in delivery (19 completed passes) and with a couple of duels won in the 13 minutes he played.