Barcelona, fielding a squad of youngsters and on short rest, lost 3-2 on Thursday to Mexico’s America in a friendly match in Dallas, Texas.
A day after grinding out an unconvincing 3-2 La Liga win against basement club Almeria on Wednesday, Barcelona had goals from young Lamine Yamal in the sixth minute and Marc Guiu in the 28th.
But America, the newly crowned Mexican champions, came from behind with a brace from Colombian Julian Quinones in the 12th and 50th minutes and a final goal from Henry Martin in the 82nd minute to seal the win at the Cotton Bowl.
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Coach Xavi Hernandez used a number of players from Barcelona’s second team but five of the players who started 24 hours earlier — Joao Cancelo, Andreas Christensen, Fermin Lopez, Joao Felix and Robert Lewandowski — also saw playing time.
“It was a great game, both America and Barcelona offered a spectacle, chances, goals and we gave opportunities to young and very young players,” Xavi told broadcaster TUDN. “The older ones… logically, we played a game yesterday and we were tired but I think people enjoyed it.”
The Catalan team, which is going through financial difficulties, will earn some $5 million for the friendly.
“We have to adapt to the economic situation of the club,” Xavi said.
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