SHARE
COPY LINK

FOOTBALL

Ibrahimovic to face Man City in Barcelona debut

Swedish international striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to make his debut for new club Barcelona on Wednesday in a pre-season clash with big-spending Premier League side Manchester City.

Ibrahimovic to face Man City in Barcelona debut

Both Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi have been declared fit to play.

For Ibrahimovic it will be his first match for the club since his transfer from Inter Milan this summer. The 27-year-old Swedish striker underwent surgery on a broken hand last month.

Messi, 22, has been suffering from a muscle strain in his left thigh.

Both trained with the squad on Tuesday and are available to play some part for Barca in the Joan Gamper Trophy, an annual pre-season match, against the English Premiership side, Barcalona said on its website.

The Catalan giants, who won a unique treble of Spanish league, Cup and European Champions League last season, then face Athletic Bilbao on Sunday in the return leg of the Spanish Supercup.

On August 28, they play Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk in the European Supercup.

The Spanish league season begins on the weekend of August 29-30.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

SHOW COMMENTS