pre-season

FC Barcelona drew away to Olympique Nice in their second preseason friendly on Saturday evening. They travelled there straight from Birmingham, where the Catalan team undertook a 6-day training stay. There were plenty of signs that things are coming together for FC Barcelona in Nice's wonderful Allianz Riviera. Xavi pulled level with a second half penalty after Nice had taken the lead, also from the spot. Barça players were always in control and could easily have gone on to win the game, had there been a little more luck on their side.

Luis Enrique led Barça to a win in Huelva thanks to a Joan Roman goal. All FC Barcelona's 23 players got to play, and the visitors dominated from start to finish. The Colombino Trophy match between Recreativo Huelva and Barça will always be remembered for being Luis Enrique’s debut as first team manager. Goalkeeper Ter Stegen got to make his debut, and although he didn’t have much to do, on the few occasions when he was called upon, he did well. There were only three first team players in the starting eleven (Masip, Montoya and Sergi Roberto), with the other eightall coming from the reserves. Luis Enrique fielded a completely different eleven in the second half, four of which were first team players - Ter Stegen, Bartra, Afellay and Deulofeu

Barça have brought the curtain down on the tour of Asia with a win against a plucky Malaysia XI. Cesc, Neymar and Piqué got the goals for Barça and Cesc limped off the pitch with an ankle injury. Messi was ruled out at the last moment with a thigh strain. Barça was always the better side in Kuala Lumpur’s Shah Alam Stadium but had to work hard to break through an efficient defensive performance.

The Brazilian team are currently 16th in the Campeonato Brasileño Serie A after five matches. Neymar's former team will have to face the challenge of overcoming the sale of its biggest star. Santos’ participation in the Joan Gamper Trophy was agreed upon when Barça signed the Brazilian forward. From Wednesday July 3, tickets go on sale for the FC Barcelona v Santos match for the Joan Gamper Trophy. For this game, the font used on the Barça shirt will be different to the usual one. A special typography designed by Anna Vives will be used.

The Blaugrana will play exhibition matches in Shanghai on the 4th of August, Bangkok on the 7th of August and Kuala Lumpur on the 10th of August. However, the names of the teams facing Barça have not been revealed yet. It will be the second FC Barcelona’s Asia Tour after that of summer 2010. Barça will firstly play against Guardiola’s Bayern Munich on the 24th of July, for charity purposes. Furthermore, the Catalan team might play on Tel Aviv on the 31st of July with a Israel and Palestine side in order to support peace and understanding, although this has not been confirmed yet.

Manchester United and FC Barcelona meet in Sweden in a re-run of the Champions League finals of 2009 and 2011, both of which were won by Barça. Jordi Alba, Fontàs and Villa are all going on the ‘mini-tour’ as they get in shape for the new season.

In three weeks time, Barça begin their pre-season with the prospect of more than 20,000 kilometres of travel ahead of them, including visits to Split, Munich, Washington, Miami and Dallas.