A-Leagues All Stars vs Barcelona

2022 - 5 - 25

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Sydney Morning Herald"

Barcelona scrape through on another night for the dreamers (The Sydney Morning Herald)

On another night of what might have been for Australian football, the Spanish giants held off a strong challenge from their All-Star hosts.

After that kind of performance tonight, surely that should be encouraged for every Australian fan around the place to make sure they come out and support their local team?” For the most part, it worked, and on another night, he might have claimed the prized scalp of Xavi in his coaching debut. “Maybe from our point of view we’re disappointed with the fact we didn’t win the game, but overall, I think it was a terrific performance from the players. There’s a grand final to be played in Melbourne on Saturday night, but the vast majority of the theatre-goers who dug out the old “Messi” jerseys from the back of their wardrobes and paid big money to catch a glimpse of Barcelona’s maiden voyage to Australia probably wouldn’t have a clue who’s in it. They sat in a low block, forcing Barca out wide, and posing the occasional threat on the counter. But over the course of the match, you could almost feel the fans who came for Barcelona warming to the All Stars.

Barcelona clutch win over A-League All Stars in Sydney ... (ABC News)

Central Coast 17-year-old Garang Kuol earns plaudits from Barcelona manager Xavi after lighting it up in Sydney friendly.

Kuol hit the bar in the final minutes but the All Stars could not find the equaliser. It was a similar tale two minutes after half-time, but this time it was the All Stars who were the beneficiaries. The All Stars kept their foot on the throat with a second goal coming in similar fashion six minutes later. The teenager nearly put the All Stars 3-1 up when he found himself clean through on goal in the 66th minute and he also hit the woodwork in the dying stages. But he looked every bit at home taking on the likes of Sergio Busquets and Dani Alves in front of 70,174 fans and his turn of pace troubled the Barcelona defence. Kuol was part of the A-Leagues All Stars coached by Dwight Yorke that went down in a spirited 3-2 defeat at Stadium Australia on Wednesday.

A-Leagues All Stars 2-3 Barcelona: A tale of two Traores as ... (Stadium Astro)

An Adama Traore scored for either team as Barcelona beat the A-Leagues All Stars in an exhibition match in Sydney.

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Barcelona vs. A-Leagues All Stars: Highlights as Barca survive ... (Sporting News AU)

Barcelona beat an A-Leagues All Stars team 3-2 in Sydney in a friendly match that brought their 2021/22 season to an end.

90 mins to kick-off: Barcelona are set to play their first ever match in Australia tonight against the best players from the local top-flight competition. While only a friendly, this game means a lot to both fans and players. 45 mins to kick off: Starting lineups have been confirmed. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Frenkie de Jong both left out of Barca's XI as a few youngsters get their chance instead. 15 mins to kick off: "I think we can keep them sort of quiet. Full-time: Barcelona come from behind in the second half to claim an entertaining 3-2 win. Barca have failed to score across their past two matches, while the All Stars led Juventus back in 2014 before two late goals saw them lose 3-2. Game looking likely to start about 10 minutes late. This game might not start on time. Barca then just manage to clear his follow-up attempt. Alba and Aubameyang come on for Barcelona. One to keep an eye on.

Kuol lights up All Stars' Barca battle (The West Australian)

Garang Kuol hasn't even started a senior game for Central Coast but on Wednesday he was right at home taking on Barcelona for the A-Leagues All Stars.

Kuol made sure he left a lasting impression. "I play with a lot of freedom, I just try to have an effect." "It was a great experience to play against some of these top players and hopefully I can be up there one day. "He's a great player and he has a great future, he is a talent that is obvious." "Alou always knew what was going on and that I was better than him," he joked. All Stars and Mariners teammate Jason Cummings described the teen as a "wonderkid" while Yorke admitted to being "unsure" about the slight teen when he got into camp.

'Tactically excellent' A-Leagues All-Stars impress in defeat to ... (The Inner Sanctum)

The A-League All Stars played for the first time since 2014, taking on Barcelona in a friendly, with the All Stars being impressive against the La Liga ...

What a crowd like this shows is that there is an appetite for football in this country at the top levels of the game. It will be a difficult task, there is no doubt about that, but if the league could turn even 10% of the 55000 into people attending A-Leagues games, it would have a massive impact on the domestic game over the coming years. “As Jack (Rodwell) mentioned, we only had literally just over two and a half hours in terms of preparation on the football pitch so it’s hard to say, but definitely there are one or two players I’m interested in. “I came in with a very open mind as a coach, just to have a look and probably more of an observation point of view. This is just a little bit of flavour (the All-Stars game). It will probably be a slightly different level, but I’m ready for the challenge ahead as a manager at Macarthur. The excitement in the air from the crowd was palpable.