BARCELONA: signed Karim Adeyemi, sold Ferran Torres, lost Frenkie de Jong to injury and suddenly discovered that Rodri was absolutely essential. After three bids, they agreed to pay Manchester City €60 million plus another €15 million in add-ons. The midfielder has signed his contract, although his debut will have to wait following back surgery.

Barcelona won the biggest transfer headline. Real Madrid won the sales battle, enjoyed the smoother preseason and operated with considerably less noise.

Madrid rebuilt their squad according to a plan. Barcelona’s plan changed after an injury, triggering a transfer charge that somehow ended with a Ballon d’Or winner arriving at the club. Sometimes chaos finds the top corner too.

THE LAST-MONTH VERDICT:

Real Madrid — more structure, more money from sales and greater continuity in their work.

Barcelona — the bigger individual signing and, as usual, more plot twists than their rivals produced during the entire preseason.

Exactly 15 years ago, Barcelona hosted Real Madrid in the second leg at Camp Nou. The opening match at the Santiago Bernabéu had finished 2–2, leaving everything to be decided in Catalonia. Messi then took control.

The Argentine first produced a brilliant pass for Andrés Iniesta, who lifted the ball over Iker Casillas in the 15th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo equalised five minutes later, but Messi restored Barcelona’s lead before half-time after collecting Gerard Piqué’s backheel.

Madrid refused to disappear. Karim Benzema made it 2–2 in the 82nd minute and the match appeared to be heading for extra time. Six minutes later, Messi ended the argument. Following a move involving Cesc Fàbregas and Adriano, he volleyed home the winning goal.

It was his second goal of the night and his third across the two matches. Barcelona won 5–4 on aggregate and lifted the tenth Spanish Super Cup in the club’s history. Messi had scored at the Santiago Bernabéu, added two more at Camp Nou and created Iniesta’s opener. Not a particularly subtle start to the season.

The closing minutes had very little to do with football. Marcelo launched into a reckless challenge on Fàbregas, who was making his Barcelona debut only two days after joining from Arsenal. The Brazilian was shown a red card and a mass confrontation immediately erupted near the touchline. Mesut Özil and David Villa were also dismissed.

Mourinho then approached Pep Guardiola’s assistant Tito Vilanova from behind and poked him in the eye. Vilanova responded by striking the Portuguese coach on the side of the head. This was not a media interpretation based on a photograph. Television cameras recorded the entire incident.

The Spanish football federation later handed Mourinho a two-match Spanish Super Cup suspension and a €600 fine. Vilanova received a one-match ban and the same fine for his response. Both suspensions were eventually removed in 2012 as part of a general federation amnesty. Even the absurdity received an appropriately administrative conclusion.

The anniversary has gained an additional layer this year. One day after its 17 August date, Mourinho was formally presented as Real Madrid coach and declared: “I’m one of you. I always have been.”

The footage from 2011 is unlikely to disagree.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Cancelo has already reached an agreement with Barcelona, while the club had previously agreed a fee of around €10 million with Al-Hilal. Reports from Saudi Arabia, however, claim the asking price has increased to €15 million. Cancelo has picked his shirt. The two clubs are still trying to decide how much it costs.

The defender was left out of Al-Hilal’s squad against Al-Faisaly. Simone Inzaghi confirmed that Cancelo continues to train normally but said the decision about his future belongs to the club’s board. There is still no official agreement between the clubs, only another very public signal from the player.

It is a familiar kind of story for Barcelona. In January, the club announced Cancelo’s loan and then deleted the announcement because one document was missing. Seven months later, the player is wearing the shirt and starting the countdown before negotiations have been completed. So far, the hourglass appears to be the only part of the operation working on schedule.

Source: Mundo Deportivo

It’s only a statistical model, of course, but those numbers should make for pleasant reading in Barcelona. Atlético Madrid sit miles behind at just 8.6%, while Opta gives Barça a 92% chance of qualifying for the Champions League. The players haven’t even had time to properly dirty their new shirts and the computer is already handing them the trophy.

There is one inconvenient detail: the other 54.4% of simulations. Football still insists on making everyone play 38 matches, and Mourinho’s Real Madrid probably won’t concede the title because an algorithm told them to. Barça start as the computer’s favourites. Now comes the slightly more difficult task — becoming champions outside Opta’s servers.

Flick’s team scored 20 times in four friendlies last summer. This is not a perfectly fair comparison: two of this year’s games lasted only 45 minutes and several World Cup players have yet to return. Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo are due back on August 12. Robert Lewandowski, however, has already left, while Ferran Torres reportedly wants to join PSG.

Pre-season results are no reason to panic. They can still expose the order in which a squad has been built. Barça strengthened the wings, allowed their starting striker to leave and opened the door for his main replacement to follow. Finding someone to score the goals came further down the list.

It was a brief but particularly sharp response to an image Barcelona have treated almost like a club relic for years. One small detail: Messi won the World Cup for Argentina after leaving Barça. Fortunately, in Catalonia, restrictions such as facts have never stood in the way of claiming somebody else’s success.

Spain defeated Argentina 1–0 thanks to Ferran Torres’ goal in the 106th minute. They attempted 20 shots, while their opponents failed to register a single effort on target. Barça can therefore calmly announce that one of their own won the final, Lamine took Messi’s crown and the entire World Cup was simply another chapter in the history of La Masia. Ramos left Barcelona something much simpler: one photograph and two trophies the club has nowhere to display.