Braithwaite and Umtiti, the only ones discarded by Barça for the solidarity match against Manchester City

Xavi Hernández has called up 27 players for the game that Barça will play tonight (9:30 pm) at the Camp Nou against Manchester City.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
24 August 2022 Wednesday 06:35
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Braithwaite and Umtiti, the only ones discarded by Barça for the solidarity match against Manchester City

Xavi Hernández has called up 27 players for the game that Barça will play tonight (9:30 pm) at the Camp Nou against Manchester City. A special and supportive meeting sponsored by the exporter and technician Juan Carlos Unzué who seeks to raise funds for the investigation of ALS, a disease he contracted two years ago. With nearly 80,000 tickets sold, the match seeks to raise the maximum amount to donate it to the Fundació Luzón, which oversees research, improves the quality of life of those affected and prevents the diagnosis of this disease. "It's a game that is born of friendship with capital letters," says Unzué, who visited both teams in the previous hours.

In Xavi's list the only discards are Umtiti and Braithwaite. Umtiti is finalizing his departure to Lecce, a team to which he will leave on loan with Barça, assuming his record as long as he passes the medical review. As for Braithwaite, he has received interest from Mallorca, but the Dane has continued to show a certain lack of interest throughout the summer in changing the scene.

Yes, two regular players in league calls are on the list to play against City but they are on the starting ramp. They are Memphis and Aubameyang. The first is at the expense of Juventus approving his signing, but the Italian club's economic commission has not approved the economic expectations requested by the striker.

Aubameyang is still negotiating with Chelsea. Although the Gabonese prioritized staying in Barcelona, ​​he is aware that he has a lot of competition and has allowed himself to be loved by the English team, which offers him a three-year contract and very good economic conditions. Xavi is not entirely in favor of letting Auba escape but the departure of players is essential to be able to register Jules Koundé, the only one of the five signings who cannot play official matches. The French central defender, who played for Gamper against Pumas, will enjoy minutes today and the club hopes to be able to release 20 million euros with at least two outings so that he can debut in an official match on Sunday against Valladolid at the Camp Nou.

Another of the players whom the club has urged to leave and who, due to a technical decision, has been ruled out in the first two league games, has also entered the squad list. This is Sergiño Dest. His environment ensures that before the holidays Xavi told him that he was counting on him. But after the vacation period, the coach and also the sports area led by Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff advised him to find a way out in order to release salary mass, reinforce the squad by signing Azpilicueta and register Koundé. Despite the turn of events that has seen him miss out on the squad for both league games to date, Dest has not received any convincing offers and wants to stay at Barcelona.

The Camp Nou will also have the opportunity to see Pablo Torre. The player, who contemplated returning to Racing de Santander to have minutes on loan, finally stays in Barcelona at the request of Xavi. Torre, a regular in training with the first team, will play some games with the reserve team because all parties understand that the 19-year-old midfielder, who last year was essential for Racing to be promoted to the Second Division, must have minutes.

Beyond the charitable cause, the Camp Nou match is full of sporting attractions. There will be two scorers on the pitch. At City Erling Håland, the player Barça dreamed of. From Barça will be Robert Lewandowski. Both scorers have seen each other on a total of seven occasions with the shirts of Bayern and Dortmund. In these seven clashes, the 34-year-old new Barça striker achieved the full victories with Bayern, scoring nine goals against Håland's five. Bernardo Silva, wanted by Barça, will also play in the ranks of City.

The Barça team will take advantage of the match against City to debut their third kit for the 2022-23 season, presented this morning through the club's website and social networks. The shirt is grey, with a Barça cross in the centre. The design is inspired, as Barça itself explains in a statement, in the Creu de Sant Jordi. This year is the thirtieth anniversary of the granting of this recognition to the club by the Generalitat de Catalunya, for "its social aspect and its sporting, civic and solidarity values".

For this reason, both players from the men's and women's teams, such as Lewandowski, Pedri, Ansu Fati, Mapi León and Aitana Bonmatí, participated in the kit presentation ceremony, along with players from the Barça Genuine Foundation squad. It is a "commitment to diversity and inclusion". The Spotify logo appears in the center of the cross in gray, the names of the players and the numbers are black and the shorts and socks are the same color as the shirt. It will be on sale exclusively in various official stores and online between August 24 and 28. From then on, the general sale begins at the usual points.