17.08.2010 14:09
Barça’s first games
Sandra Sarmiento
FC Barcelona face a stern test in their first game back in Camp Nou since the club celebrated winning the league title back in May as Sevilla visit for the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup with a two-goal lead.
Three months after the last home game, when they beat Real Valladolid 4-0, Pep Guardiola’s
side will be hoping for a similar scoreline when they entertain the Andalucian outfit in a contest
for the first trophy of the campaign.
In their first game in Camp Nou in pre-season Barça have won eight in the last ten years.
Super times
Three times in the last years the Blaugrana’s first game back after the summer
break has been in the Spanish Super Cup. Last year Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the star attraction for
the home fans as he helped Barça to beat Athletic Club and lift the silverware while in 2006 there
was a local derby as Espanyol travelled across the Ciutat Contal for a game the hosts won 3-0. Some
12 months earlier Real Betis had been the away team as they beat Barça 1-2 on their own patch to
win the trophy.
Guardiola’s debut
Pep
Guardiola made his home debut as coach when Barça took on Wisla Krakow in a Champions League
Play-Off. The road to Rome began in August 2008 with a 4-0 win. Louis van Gaal’s second spell
in charge had begun with a match against Legia Warsaw and goals from Frank de Boer, Juan Román
Riquelme and Phillip Cocu saw the Blaugrana to a 3-0 triumph.
Regular visitors
Barça fans have become accustomed to seeing Sevilla as their team’s first
opponents as they have been regular starters. Ronaldinho netted his first goal against the
Andalucian outfit in the ‘night of gazpacho’ when the game kicked off after midnight,
while in 2004-05 Ludovic Giuly and Henrik Larsson scored to give Barça a 2-0 win.