Barcelona are set to conclude their Pre Season in the annual customary Joan Gamper Trophy Game. The team invited by the Catalans this year is none other than the 2016/17 Ligue 1 Champions, AS Monaco.
The game is set to kick off at 20:00 CET at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, which is set to be the home stadium of Barcelona until the renovation of Camp Nou reaches its inevitable completion.
Lets have a look into how Barca’s opponents have fared and what they will have to offer in the matchup.
Recent Form
AS Monaco have had an extensive pre season spanning for a period of more than a month during which they have completed 5 matchups and are poised to play their 6th match. Out of their 5 games, they have won only one of those games while losing as well as drawing twice.
Their sole victory was against Dutch Club, Feyenoord where they won with a scoreline of 3-1. Combining all their pre season games, Monaco scored a total of 7 goals and conceded a total of 7 as well.
Despite barely winning games, they were able to maintain a neutral scoreline as their sole win was a rather dominant one. However, their consistency in getting poor results against medicore opposition such as Genoa, Sturm, and Servette is a major cause for concern.
Monaco’s Threatening Talents
Monaco do possess some promising talents that may be provided with the opportunity to feature in their matchup against Barca. Amongst their frontline, they possess the goal scoring threat of Falorin Balogun.
Moreover, their attack also features the creative talents of Aleksandr Golovin whose proficiency with set pieces as well as chance creation will trouble the Catalan backline.
In defense, Monaco could deploy the physical presence of Mohammed Salisu who has proven to be greatly effective at neutralising any type of offensive threat that the opposition could conjure up whether aerial or along the ground.
Additionally, Salisu has shown the ability to be an immaculate distributor of the ball which could give some possessional solidity to the French Side.
All in all, Flick’s Men will certainly have their work cut out if they intend to end their pre season by getting the win.
