Pumas and Montpellier to face FC Barcelona men’s and women’s teams in the Joan Gamper Trophy
The Joan Gamper Trophy, which for the second time in its history will feature both the men’s and women’s football teams, now has opponents and fixture details. Xavi Hernández’s Barça team will play at Spotify Camp Nou on 7 August, kick off 8pm CEST, against Mexican side Club Universidad Nacional, also known as Pumas whilst Jonatan Giráldez’s Barça Women side will face French team Montpellier Hérault Sport Club on 23 August, kick off 8pm CEST, at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.
The difficulty of finding a Club with both a men’s and women’s team available for the dates in the calendar has prevented the two sides from playing on the same day for the 57th edition of the competition which bears the name of the Club’s founder.
The withdrawal of AS Roma from the fixture against both the men’s and women’s team forced Barça to search for new opponents with little time to spare with the objective of celebrating both Gamper games on the same day. In the end, the option of playing the matches separately has been chosen to allow both sides to take part in the Gamper Trophy. As such, a date has been found in which the players who will have taken part in the European Championships will be available for Jonatan Giráldez’s team at their official presentation for Barça Women.
Pumas and Hugo Sánchez
Club de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) were founded in 1954 and have been in the country’s top flight since promotion in 1962. The club is well known for having one of the best youth systems in Mexican football and have produced many outstanding players.
The most famous name being that of striker Hugo Sánchez, who also had a spell as coach taking the Mexican club to success in the Apertura and Clausura in 2004, the same year in which the club won the Santiago Bernabéu trophy.
The Pumas have Mexican league champions on seven occasions and have won the CONCACAF Champions Cup on three occasions, their last trophy being the Apertura league title in 2011.
The Mexican team will be in competition mode for the fixture having started preseason back at the end of May and having started the Apertura league calendar on 3 July with a 1-1 draw against Xolos de Tijuana.
Pumas start the new campaign with fresh face in charge in the form of Andrés Lillini and the departure of important players such as captains Alfredo Talavera and Alan Mozo and the arrival of names such as Gustavo del Prete and Eduardo ‘Toto’ Salvio as the club attempt to replicate the successes of its past.
Montpellier HSC, for their part, will take on Barça Women on 23 August at the Estadi Johan Cruyff. The French team, coached by Yannick Chandioux in his fifth seasons as boss, has names in their squad such as German striker Lena Petermann, Slovakian midfielder Dominika Škorvánková and Faustine Robert.