Barcelona to face AS Roma in Gamper in August
Barcelona has announced they will take on AS Roma in the 2022 edition of the friendly Joan Gamper Trophy, which will be held on the sixth of next August.
The Joan Gamper Cup is an annual friendly football match held in August, before the start of FC Barcelona's La Liga season, where top division clubs from Europe compete against them. The competition is hosted by FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou stadium and is named inhonorr of Joan Gamper, a founding member, player, and later president of the club. The competition was inaugurated in 1966 by Enric Llaudet, one of Gamper's successors as club president.
According to FC Barcelona website, the date has been set for August 6, with both Xavi Hernández’s and Jonatan Giráldez’s squads being presented to supporters as part of the proceedings.
The first match will be played between the women of the two teams, while the second match will be between the men's teams of Barcelona and Rome at the Camp Nou.
This match will be the last preparatory match for Barcelona, whose coach Xavi seeks to restore his glory, before the start of the local league on August 12.
Barcelona will play other friendly matches against Fifth Division Olot, Inter Miami, Real Madrid, Italian Juventus and New York Red Bulls in July.
Last year, the FC Barcelona men’s and women’s teams made history by playing the first-ever joint Joan Gamper Trophy. Juventus were the opposition on that occasion, and in 2022 the format is to be repeated, this time against another Italian club, AS Roma. The date has been set for August 6, with both Xavi Hernández’s and Jonatan Giráldez’s squads being presented to supporters as part of the proceedings.
Barcelona finished preparations for the new season with some positivity as they beat Juventus 3-0 at the Johan Cruyff Stadium in August 2021.
Roma had previously participated in the Joan Gamper Cup in 2015, when Barca won 3-0, with goals from Neymar, Ivan Rakitic and Leo Messi. Roma won the European Conference League title in its first edition this year, after beating Feyenoord of the Netherlands 1-0.
