Barcelona won the Joan Gamper Trophy for a sixth year in a row, thrashing Boca Juniors of Argentina 3-0 at Camp Nou. Captain Lionel Messi and new boy Malcom were on target as Barcelona enjoyed a 3-0 win over Boca Juniors to win the Joan Gamper Trophy.
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Having lifted the Supercopa de Espana thanks to a slender 2-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday, Messi’s Barca again looked in good shape ahead of their title defence in LaLiga, which begins on Saturday against Deportivo Alaves, sweeping a feisty Boca aside with minimal fuss.
Barca gradually found their stride and went close for the first time in the 16th minute – Philippe Coutinho tricking his way past one opponent before forcing Esteban Andrada into flying save with a stinging effort.
Andrada made a mess of things shortly after, however, allowing Malcom’s low drive to squirm under him after the Brazilian had squeezed a shot past Boca right-back Julio Buffarini.
The hosts deservedly doubled their lead six minutes before the break – Messi delicately chipping a fine finish over Andrada after his attempted pass to Coutinho came back off Buffarini and fell perfectly into his path.
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But they were fortunate to not concede on the stroke of half-time when Sebastian Villa broke into the area and fired against the left-hand post.
Barca were a little less fluid after eight half-time changes, but Malcom did at least test Andrada from long range in the 55th minute following a clever bit of play by Riqui Puig.
They eventually added a third 23 minutes from time – Rafinha playing a one-two with Luis Suarez, before flicking the ball over Andrada and knocking in from close range.
Paco Alcacer had a late goal disallowed for offside, but Barca eased to victory nevertheless.
www.sojworld.com (c) August 15, 2018
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