While most La Liga teams have one fixture left before the winter break, Barcelona will play two before their squad splits up for the festive period. As well as Wednesday’s match with Almeria in La Liga, the Catalans will also take on Club America in a glamour friendly in Dallas less than 36 hours later.
Barcelona announced the friendly earlier this season, and it is being used as a money-making situation for the club, whose ongoing financial problems have been well documented. However, there have been questions raised over the decision to host this match, especially given that it takes place so soon after the Almeria clash.
To make matters worse in this regard, Sport have reported that Barcelona intend to take their entire first team squad over to Dallas for the match, aside from those that are injured (Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Marcos Alonso, Inigo Martinez and Gavi).
While there’s no doubt that Barcelona need to funds from this match, there will be serious problems if one of their players picks up an injury against Club America. It’s the last thing that Xavi Hernandez needs, given the pressure he has been under in recent weeks.
