FC Barcelona continues adding to their preseason Asian tour. In their second friendly of the summer, the azulgrana team crushed FC Seoul with an impressive thrashing (3-7) where the team once again displayed their brutal offense against a weak South Korean defense.
Hansi Flick made five changes compared to the starting eleven against Vissel Kobe. Jules Koundé returned to the right back position for Eric García, while Ronald Araujo took Iñigo Martínez's place alongside Pau Cubarsí in the center of the defense.
Frenkie de Jong and Dani Olmo also occupied the roles of defensive pivot and attacking midfielder, respectively, replacing Gavi and Fermín López. In addition, Robert Lewandowski was once again the starting '9', with Ferran Torres waiting for his place on the bench.
In the second half, again, Barça took the field with a totally different lineup. The most notable additions were those of Héctor Fort and Jofre Torrens as full-backs for the team, with Christensen and Gerard Martín in the center and Casadó alongside Gavi in midfield.
Lamine Yamal led Barça to victory in the first half
The first half was a real exhibition by Lamine Yamal. The player from Mataró participated in all three of Barça's goals before the break, scoring his first double with the '10' on his back.
In the 8th minute, a low shot from the right winger hit the base of the post. The rebound fell to Lewandowski, who only had to push the ball into the empty net to open the scoring.
Seven minutes later, a steal by Lamine allowed him to face the goal on the right. The '10' wanted to filter a backheel for Olmo, but the ball deflected off an opponent. Luckily, the rebound favored the player from Rocafonda, who did not hesitate to unleash a shot from the edge of the area that surprised goalkeeper Hyeon-Mu.
FC Seoul, despite being clearly surpassed by the azulgrana team, managed to equalize the actions with goals from Cho Young-Wook and Yazan Al-Arab, the first of them preceded by a clear offside not noticed by the linesman.
When everything seemed to indicate that the match would go to the break tied, Lamine returned the advantage to the culés with another remarkable finish in the 45+3'. The winger took advantage of a through ball from Olmo to dribble past two opponents, adjust to his left and unleash a powerful shot past Hyeon-Mu.
Christensen extended Barça's lead in the second half
After the break, Flick once again tweaked the entire Barça lineup. The Catalans returned to the field with Szczesny; Fort, Christensen, Gerard Martín, Jofre Torrens; Casadó, Gavi; Roony Bardghji, Fermín, Rashford and Ferran. The azulgrana team maintained the initial dominance and soon extended their lead.
In the 55th minute, Andreas Christensen took advantage of the passivity of Seoul's defensive retreat to unleash a powerful shot from more than 30 meters. The speed of the shot surprised the newly entered Cheol Won and the Dane celebrated another goal as a culé, while his future at the club remains 'up in the air'.
The locals created danger again in the 60th minute, taking advantage of a bad pass back from Roony Bardghji. Yazan Al-Arab almost scored his own double, but Szczesny was quick to come out and deflect the ball with his foot. Fort completed with another clearance, preventing a second shot.
Ferran Torres closed Barça's first thrashing on the Asian tour
Barcelona stepped on the accelerator again in the final stretch, rounding off a beating in line with the difference seen on the field. In the 74th minute, Ferran scored his first goal of the preseason. The 'Shark' took advantage of a through ball from Jofre to beat Al-Arab in the one-on-one and position himself to his right, unleashing a low shot to blast past Cheol Won.
A couple of minutes later, Gavi made it six, with Seoul completely broken down in the back. Christensen enabled the '6' on the edge of the area and the Andalusian, wearing the captain's armband, controlled with mastery to unleash another low left-footed shot, impossible for the Korean goalkeeper.
Hansi Flick congratulated him and, immediately afterwards, brought on cousins Toni and Guille Fernández for Bardghji and Gavi himself. Before the end, the locals discounted with another goal from Jun Han-Min, in the 85th minute, finding a huge gap on the right, with Héctor Fort launched into the attack. But Barça reacted immediately, with an assist from Rashford for Ferran to score his second of the night.
Barça has two out of two on their Asian tour, with a total of 10 goals in favor and 4 against. A similar average to that of 24/25, with 5 goals per game and a difference of +6. The Asian tour ends next Monday against Daegu FC (13:00 CEST).
Match details: FC Seoul 3-7 FC Barcelona
- FC Seoul, 3: Hyeon-Mu; Soo-II, Tae-Wook, Al-Arab, Kim; Lee, Seung-Won; Da Silva, Lingaard, Seon-Min; Young-Wook.
- FC Barcelona, 7: Joan Garcia; Koundé, Cubarsí, Araujo, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski.
- Goals: 0-1, Robert Lewandowski (min.8); 0-2, Lamine Yamal (min.15); 1-2, Cho Young-Wook (min. 26); 2-2, Yazan Al-Arab (min. 45+1); 2-3, Lamine Yamal (min. 45+3); 2-4, Andreas Christensen (min. 55); 2-5, Ferran Torres (min. 74); 2-6, Gavi (min. 76); 3-6, Jun Han-Min (min.85); 3-7, Ferran Torres (min. 88)
- Referee: Kim Dae-Yong (South Korea)
- Stadium: Seoul World Cup Stadium
- Incidents: match corresponding to the 2025 preseason Asian tour of Barça.