Nàstic Tarragona 1-1 FC Barcelona: A draw to remain unbeaten

FC Barcelona continued their pre-season preparations on Friday evening with a competitive friendly against Gimnàstic Tarragona at the Nou Estadi, a game which ended in a 1-1 draw. Paco Alcácer’s superb long-range free-kick late in the second half was enough to cancel out Barreiro’s opener.

Ernesto Valverde started with a much changed XI, Piqué, Rakitic, Sergio, Iniesta, Suárez, Messi, Aleix Vidal and Umtiti all rested. However, the visitors retained control for the most part thanks to a midfield of Sergi Roberto, Aleñá and Samper.

The first clear chance of the game fell to Barça, Sergi Roberto’s shot just off target. Nàstic’s reply was swift, Barreiro taking advantage of a ricochet in the area.

Ter Stegen, André Gomes and Gerard Deulofeu played their first minutes of 2017/18 during the second half and Barça’s German custodian was called into action on a couple of occasions, one spectacular save in particular stopping the hosts from going 2-0 ahead.

Continued pressure from the visitors eventually saw them get their reward on 79 minutes, Paco Alcácer lining up a direct free-kick from fully 25 yards that was too hot for Dimitrievski to handle.