Al Ahly head to Barcelona for Joan Gamper Trophy clash

Al Ahly have travelled to Barcelona as they continue preparations for their Joan Gamper Trophy match against Barcelona on Wednesday, 19 August.

The Egyptian club’s delegation left their training base in Spain and moved to the Catalan capital ahead of the high-profile fixture, which will bring their pre-season preparations to a close.

Al Ahly began their training camp at the start of August in Seva, a town in the Catalonia region of Spain. Seva is approximately 60 kilometres from Barcelona, where the team will face the Spanish giants.

The club have already played two matches during their Spanish camp. They began with a 3-0 victory over Badalona before suffering a 2-1 defeat by Europa.

Their final game in Spain will be against Barcelona on 19 August. Al Ahly are scheduled to complete the camp on 20 August before returning to Cairo.

The match will be followed by the start of Al Ahly’s Egyptian Premier League campaign, with the club due to face Eastern Enppi on Sunday, 23 August.

Al Ahly will play 13 of their 19 fixtures in the opening phase of the league at Cairo Stadium.

The Egyptian Premier League is scheduled to begin on 21 August, with the first phase running until 20 February. The second phase is set to start on 8 March and finish on 28 May, provided there is no alteration to the May schedule because of the dates of the continental finals.

Those potential changes were outlined by Taha Ezzat, chairman of the competitions committee.

The league will be played in two phases. The opening phase will use a single round-robin format, with each of the 20 teams playing 19 matches.

After that, the competition will split into two sections. The six highest-ranked teams will compete in the championship group to decide the title, while the teams finishing from seventh to 20th will enter the relegation group.

Al Ahly’s meeting with Barcelona is therefore the final fixture of their Spanish preparations before they return to Egypt and turn their attention to the domestic season. Their opening league match against Eastern Enppi comes just three days after the scheduled conclusion of their camp.

The Joan Gamper Trophy is traditionally Barcelona’s pre-season fixture and will provide Al Ahly with their most demanding test of the summer after their victories over Badalona and Europa. Their preparations have included a base close to Barcelona, followed by the move into the city for the meeting with the Catalan club.