Barça Cancel Friendly Because Preston’S Squad Was Too Young

Barcelona were supposed to finish their training camp in England with a behind-closed-doors friendly against Preston North End. The match was scheduled for Monday at 3pm, but it will no longer take place. According to “Mundo Deportivo”, Preston have several players unavailable and were planning to field a squad containing a large number of Under-21 players.

Hansi Flick wanted a proper competitive test. After the 2-2 draw and penalty shootout defeat against Birmingham, Barça apparently decided that another match against a youthful side would not provide enough useful answers. The friendly will be replaced by a training session. At least the cones are unlikely to report any squad problems.

The club may also return to Barcelona earlier than originally planned. Flick will therefore lose another opportunity to assess his young players in match conditions before the next stage of preseason.

The funny part is that a club which regularly presents teenagers as the future of its first team has cancelled a friendly because the opposition planned to use too many youngsters. Youth development is apparently exciting when it happens at La Masia and inconvenient when it happens in Preston.