Hamza Abdelkarim leads Barcelona attack in closed-door Europa friendly

Barcelona forward Hamza Abdelkarim has been named in the starting line-up to spearhead the attack in a behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly against third-tier side Europa on Friday night.

The match, part of Barcelona’s preparations for the new campaign, kicks off at 21:00 Cairo time at the Johan Cruyff Stadium and will not be open to the public or broadcast.

Head coach Hansi Flick has opted to start new season signing Karim Adeyemi on the bench, while handing Abdelkarim a central role in the front three for what is Barcelona’s first friendly of the summer schedule.

Flick names first pre-season XI

Flick confirmed his starting XI for the training-ground encounter, which is being played without fans in attendance and away from television cameras.

Wojciech Szczesny starts in goal behind a back four of Hector Fort, Andreas Christensen, Gerard Martin and Jofre Torrents.

In midfield, Guille Fernandez, Brian Farinas and Ibrahima Diarra form the central trio tasked with controlling the game.

Ahead of them, Rony Bardghji and Shane Kluivert will line up either side of Abdelkarim in a three-man attack.

Adeyemi, who has recently joined the club, begins on the bench as he waits for his first on-pitch involvement in Barcelona colours.

Pre-season plans and Joan Gamper test

Barcelona have arranged a series of friendly fixtures to build fitness and sharpness before the competitive season begins, with the meeting against Europa the first in that run.

One of the standout fixtures of their preparations will be against Al Ahly in the Joan Gamper Trophy, as the Spanish side use the traditional curtain-raiser to fine-tune their squad ahead of the new campaign.

Friday’s game against Europa, who play in Spain’s third tier, offers Flick an initial opportunity to assess a mixture of established players and emerging talents in a controlled environment, away from the glare of supporters and television audiences.

The closed-door nature of the fixture means it will provide an internal test for the squad, with coaches able to work on tactical details and player combinations as Barcelona’s pre-season schedule gets under way.