Three talking points from Barcelona 1-0 Nottingham Forest and Barcelona 0-1 Udinese
Barcelona's pre-season performance in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup is analyzed, focusing on the development of Karim Adeyemi and the defensive reliability of Andreas Christensen. The team played short matches against Nottingham Forest and Udinese as part of their preparation for the 2026/27 season.
Why it matters
Sports analysis helps fans understand team dynamics and player development during the critical pre-season transfer and training window.
Barcelona headed to Italy for the next stage in their pre-season preparations, and on this occasion, they would be playing 45 minutes against Nottingham Forest before another 45 against Udinese , in the inaugural Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup.
Not since the 2005/06 Champions League group stage had the Catalans faced the Serie A outfit, and the last time Barca had lined up against Forest came all the way back in the 1980 UEFA Super Cup.
Udinese faced the Premier League club in the first of the three matches in this triangular tournament, before Hansi Flick's men took centre stage.
Let's take a look at three talking points from Saturday evening's action…
Photo by Image Photo Agency/Getty Images Karim Adeyemi had a slow-wish start to his Barça career against Birmingham City last week, but he was much better this time around.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in