Barcelona were beaten again, in this their fourth game of the pre-season, losing 2-1 to Fiorentina, with the match following the script from their previous encounters. A short-circuit in defence let the Italians help themselves to two goals and Barça’s later dominance was never reflected on the scoreboard. Barça controlled the play, but at the moment they are still unreliable in both boxes. In their own area they had fatal lapses in concentration, while in their rival’s they lacked bite and left everything to Suárez, who scored his third of the pre-season.
Barcelona only realised they were taking part in a match with 12 minutes already gone. They were already losing 2-0, with two illustrious veterans, Borja Valero and Joaquín both showing up their markers, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba respectively, to set up Bernardeschi, who made sure both times.
Barcelona’s play up to that moment had been dull in general, soft as butter at the back. But seeing the scoreboard Luis Enrique’s men got to work and improved across the pitch. As was to be expected they were soon in control of the match, with Rakitic, Pedro and Luis Suárez doing the lion’s share of the work. The first two wasted clear chances in front of goal, before Suárez, from a great pass from Rakitic, scored Barça’s goal.
Barcelona deserved to be level before the first half was up, but between a fine performance from the home goalkeeper and sloppy shooting from Barcelona, who missed several clear chances (Alba and Suárez in particular) it was still 2-1 at the break. That said, the overall feeling was positive for Barcelona, with several players having improved over the 45, Vermaelen in particular.
In the second half, with no Iniesta (taken off as a precaution), Barcelona were solid at the back, but continued to make mistakes up front. Pedro, Munir, Sandro and Suárez wasted clear goal scoring opportunities. The game finished with the usual flurry of changes, but the change Barça really need is the return of Messi and Neymar to make a difference in front of goal.