FC Barcelona is set to do something for the first time in 24 years at the weekend.
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FC Barcelona will do something for the first time in 24 years at the weekend, led by head coach Hansi Flick.
After losing to Birmingham City on penalties after a 2-2 draw last Friday, the Blaugrana heads to the Italian city of Undine for a mini-“triangular” tournament as it is known in Spain.
This means that the La Liga champions will face both Udinese and Nottingham Forest on the same evening, though for 45 minutes each as opposed to playing two full matches.
The format is pretty popular in Catalonia, and especially in grassroots football at the end of the season or in preseason preparing for a new campaign.
It is uncommon in professional football these days, however, and the world was a much different place the last time the Catalans took part in this type of competition.
This will be FC Barcelona’s first triangular in 24 years
You’d have to go back to 2002/2003’s preseason preparations to find the last one. In that instance, Barça beat Parma 4-2 with two goals from recent high profile signing Juan Roman Riquelme. Ajax then defeated Louis Van Gaal’s men in a 4-3 thriller, with Rafael van der Vaart the protagonist.
The end of the 2000/2001 season saw Espanyol and Real Sociedad face Barça at the Minestadi in three 30 minute matches. Barça won 1-0 on both occasions, against clubs that the recently deceased Urruti had also played for.
Across the 1990s, FC Barcelona took part in seven triangulars held in their hometown, Oviedo, Marbella, Tenerife, Salamanca, Florence, and Amsterdam. They were an often preferred way to get ready for the new term, in times where money-spinning preseason tours to Asia and the United States weren’t the norm.
It is of course the World Cup being held in North America this summer, and Flick’s general disdain for tours, that have resulted in Barça staying close to home ahead of 2026/2027.
His squad has mostly prepared at England’s St. George’s Park complex until now, and it wished to take on Preston North End as well as Birmingham.
The Preston tie was set to take place behind closed doors on Monday, yet couldn’t go ahead as the northerners weren’t able to field a team.
As for FC Barcelona’s first ever triangular, that came in June 1947 at Mallorca’s Es Forti ground. Barça beat the home team 3-0 therem and then Atletico Madrid 6-0. With six goals in two matches, Manuel Badenes was the top scorer.
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