Hamza Abdelkarim becomes Barcelona’s pre-season top scorer with Al Ahly goal

Hamza Abdelkarim scored his fourth goal for the Barcelona first team during their preparations for the new season, finding the net against Al Ahly in the Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou.

The forward put Barcelona ahead in the 29th minute after meeting a cross from Alejandro Balde and finishing past Al Ahly goalkeeper Mustafa Shobeir. Abdelkarim chose not to celebrate against the Egyptian side.

He started the match, which was Barcelona’s final fixture before the new campaign, and his latest goal made him the club’s leading scorer across six pre-season matches.

Abdelkarim had previously scored in Barcelona’s 5-2 victory over Basel. He came on at half-time in place of Anthony Gordon and found the net four minutes after entering the game.

The young forward also scored twice in another pre-season match that Barcelona eventually lost 3-2 on penalties after the 90 minutes ended 2-2. His first goal in that game came from the penalty spot in the 42nd minute, while his second was scored in the 60th minute when he followed up a rebound.

His four goals account for nearly one-third of Barcelona’s 14 goals during their six-match preparations for the season, underlining his impact in front of goal despite not featuring in every game from the start.

Barcelona began their schedule with a 4-1 win against Europa before suffering a 1-0 defeat by Udinese. They then beat Nottingham 1-0, drew 2-2 with Birmingham before losing the subsequent penalty shootout, and defeated Basel 5-2. Their final listed result was a 2-1 victory against Al Ahly.

Abdelkarim’s goal against Al Ahly was therefore his fourth in a short period in which he has established himself as Barcelona’s most productive player during pre-season.

Barcelona will begin their La Liga campaign against Elche on 23 August. Their opening fixture against Athletic Bilbao was postponed and will now be played on Thursday, 27 August, at Camp Nou.

The Catalan club finished last season by winning La Liga for the second consecutive year.