Barcelona vs Sampdoria:
Joan Gamper Trophy,
Date: Wednesday, 10-August-2016,
Kick-off: 19:30 UK,
Venue: Camp Nou (Barcelona).
FC Barcelona welcome Sampdoria for the 51st edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, 10 August 2016. The kick-off is scheduled at 7.30 pm UK time and 8:30 pm Central European Time.
The Gamper Trophy serve as a traditional curtain raiser for Barcelona to present their first team for the new season before their home fans. The Blaugrana had won the trophy on 38 occasions and Sampdoria are one of the 8 Italian teams that had participated in the competitions. They previously visited the Camp Nou for the competition on 1997 and 2012. They lost on penalties on 1997 and beat Barca to the title on 2012.
Close ad X
Barcelona, who kicked off their pre-season in style with back-to-back wins over Celtic and Leicester City were thrashed 4-0 by Liverpool on Wembley on Saturday. They will be looking to bounce back in front of their own fans on Wednesday evening.
Sampdoria played just two pre-season friendlies before this. A 2-0 win over fellow Italian club Chievo was followed by a penalty defeat to Spanish outfit Malaga. The club finished 15th in the 2015/16 Serie A have a new manager in Marco Giampaolo at their helm.
Barcelona: Team News
Luis Enrique has a fully fit squad to choose from and only Neymar is missing from the list as he is with the Brazil squad at the Olympics.
The new signings Andre Gomes and Samuel Umtiti have joined the squad on Monday and are expected to play some part at some point in the game.
Barcelona Predicted Line-up (4-3-3):
Bravo – Digne, Mathieu, Mascherano, Vidal – Busquets, Iniesta, Rakitic – Munir, Suarez, Messi.
Sampdoria: Team News
Marco Giampaolo had a busy summer as a number of players were brought in to strengthen the squad.
The loan deals for Fabio Quagliarella, Emiliano Viviano and Jacopo Sala are made permanent.
Brazilian defender Leandro Castan is loaned from AS Roma, while Czech forward Patrik Schick and midfielder Luca Cigarini are two new signings expected to start here.
Sampdoria Predicted Line-up (3-5-2)
Viviano – Mesbah, Castan, De Silvestri – Barreto, Palombo, Alvarez, Campana, Cigarini – Muriel, Schick.
Barcelona vs Sampdoria: Head-to-Head Stats
The latest two meetings between Barcelona and Sampdoria are in the 1997 and 2012 edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy.
In 1997, a Van Gaal tutored Barcelona defeated Sampdoria on penalties after the scores were tied 0-0 at full time.
A goal from Roberto Soriano handed Sampdoria the trophy when they re-visited Camp Nou on 2012.
Barcelona vs Sampdoria: Prediction
Luis Enrique and his men will be desperate to bounce back with a win following the 4-0 trouncing by Liverpool at Wembley. They have a fully fit squad and almost all first team players are present, expect Neymar.
While Sampdoria will take this as an opportunity to test their metal against world class team. They know they are huge underdogs and they will be playing without any kind of pressure.
Looking at Barcelona’s recent friendly matches, plenty of goals are expected and we are likely to witness over 3.5 goals. They hosts can be backed to win this by a 2 goal margin.
Tips
Handicap: Barcelona (-2)
Over 3.5 goals.
