The football leagues of all European countries have begun with much fanfare. Two teams Barcelona and Manchester City have begun on a front foot this season with the aim of winning the European championship, the Champions League.
Barcelona has created a star-studded team adding the Polish number nine Robert Lewandowski to lead the team forward. They have also brought in quality in terms of Andres Christensen, Jules Kunde, Rafinha and Franck Kessie. Manchester City, another star-studded team, added the star youngster Erling Haaland to the team making an already strong team even stronger.
These two played out a 3-3 draw last night in a friendly which saw Pep Guardiola and his student Xavi meet on the pitch after a long long time. Xavi had played under Pep for the mightily successful Barcelona side of 2008-2012.
In those four years, the two won a hoard of trophies including two Champions League, three La Liga, two FIFA World Cups and multiple domestic cups in what was one of the greatest teams of all time.
Pep Guardiola and Xavi reunited. This is EVERYTHING ??????. pic.twitter.com/nG4uvCjDlo
— Sara ? (@SaraFCBi) August 24, 2022
Xavi went from playing for the club to now coaching, taking a similar path as Pep and has desired to emulate the latter. Their meeting on the touchline was highly anticipated. As the final whistle was blown, the two could be seen in a friendly embrace, smiling and talking about what could be guessed as the great time they had with each other in Barcelona.
Why was Barcelona vs Manchester City Friendly played in the middle of the season?
The timing and the purpose of a friendly match right between the league had raised some eyebrows and created confusion. This game, however, was played to raise funds to support research for ALS disease cure. In 2020, Juan Carlos Unzue, former Barcelona assistant manager and a peer of Pep Guardiola, was diagnosed with this disease which promoted the Catalan club to raise awareness and funds for the reach.
This game was scheduled to be held before the league season but the La Liga and Premier League itself were moved back due to the FIFA World Cup. Hence this friendly now fell right in between the ongoing season. The game was sold out with more than 91,000 fans flocking the stadium for the friendly game.
