Barcelona got their pre-season campaign underway this evening, taking on Gimnastic at Estadi Johan Cruyff in Catalonia.
Ronald Koeman fielded a youthful lineup with many of his first-teamers not yet back in full training, although he did include the likes of Sergino Dest, Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto.
![Samuel Umtiti](https://icdn.football-espana.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Samuel-Umtiti.jpg)
It was Rey Manaj, however, who got the blaugrana off the mark on the hour, the 24-year-old Barcelona B man from Albania letting rip with a golazo to give his team the lead.
Barcelona dominated possession, not much of a surprise given Gimnastic were reduced to ten men in the 38th minute after Alex Quintanilla Urionabarrenetxea saw a red card.
Rey Manaj Goal for Barcelona vs Nastic . Que golazo 🤩 #BarcaNastic pic.twitter.com/A9POfwoPEe
— Esteban 🇦🇷 (@papismithy) July 21, 2021
Barcelona will hope for a strong start to pre-season to enable them to begin the new season with confidence after a poor end to 2020/21 that saw them blow the title late on.
Lionel Messi’s future is yet to be resolved, however, and there’s still a good few uncertainties regarding their transfer activity. Koeman will be focusing on what’s happening on the pitch.