Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has stated that he was taken aback by Arsenal’s ‘intensity’ during their pre-season meeting.
At the SoFi Stadium in California, Barcelona played the Premier League runners-up in a friendly match where they lost 5-3 in front of 70,000 spectators.
Ferran Torres, Robert Lewandowski, and Raphinha all scored for Barca.
However, goals from Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Fabio Vieira, and a brace from Leandro Trossard meant Barca lost the game.
Given the strength of the two teams, it won’t have come as a surprise to the spectators in attendance to witness a match of this caliber, but Barcelona manager Xavi did admit to being surprised by the manner Arsenal treated the match.
In the exhibition game, 34 fouls were called and four players received yellow cards.
Speaking at the end of the game, Xavi said: “I said to Mikel at the end of the game that it felt like a Champions League game because the intensity that they put was not normal for a friendly game.
“I understand perfectly that everybody wants to win but for us it was just the first game, the beginning after many Barca played passed a virus so it was very difficult for us.”
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He added: “Our intensity didn’t surprise me, their intensity did.
“It’s not normal for a friendly game to be so intense or to have so many injuries or yellow cards and all that.
“They were at a very high level of intensity and rhythm that we weren’t expecting. The second have of the game meant we had a lot of things that worked well.
“In total we think the result was a positive one with a lot of positive conclusions to the game.”
Xavi: “Despite the score, it was a good test.” pic.twitter.com/NR3XK8waP8
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 27, 2023
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