Barcelona vs. Fiorentina: Things Learned from International Champions Cup
Fiorentina beat Barcelona, 2-1, in the International Champions Cup on Sunday at the Artemio Franchi, ramping up their preparations for the new season in style.
Federico Bernardeschi bagged a quick brace inside the opening 15 minutes to asset the Viola's advantage, heading a crisp Borja Valero cross home before slotting in at the near post following a Joaquin cut-back.
Luis Suarez responded with a cool finish of his own minutes later and Barca dominated large chunks of play, but home goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu represented a man possessed on preserving the lead and would not be beaten again.
"Leo Messi wasn’t there, but we saw what we wanted to," Fiorentina owner Andrea Della Valle told reporters after the game (h/t Football Italia). "It was the first step and we know full well we have to complete the squad with two or three new buys, but there is no rush."
Here, B/R takes a look at lessons learned from the summer tournament encounter.
Pedro Is Gunning for...Something
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Whether his goal is a regular spot in the Barcelona XI or to convince Louis van Gaal to take him to Manchester, we can't say, but what we do know is Pedro put in a pretty impressive performance on Sunday night against Fiorentina.
His speed, directness and positivity were on full display as he took the game to the Viola, igniting stale portions of Barca's play with darts down the flank and snapshots on goal.
He was a little hasty with his finishing and fluffed the final product a few times, but the approach play was superb and he caused Fiorentina a number of issues on the left flank. It's that speed and creativity Van Gaal craves.
Ciprian Tatarusanu Has a Shot at the No. 1 Jersey
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Fiorentina's goalkeeping situation is up in the air following Neto's decision to join Juventus on a free transfer, and this pre-season period has been an important proving ground for those hoping to replace the Brazilian between the nets.
Luigi Sepe has been loaned in from Napoli to compete for the spot with last year's backup, Ciprian Tatarusanu. Sepe is perhaps seen as the better 'keeper, but Tatarusanu did himself absolutely no harm with an astonishing display against Barcelona on Sunday.
The European champions dominated possession and peppered the goal with shots, but the big Romanian got his huge frame in front of everything. Aerially, he was great, he made a number of reflexive stops and collected one looping, deflected shot with two claws that would have fooled many net-minders.
Sergi Roberto Can Cross
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Sergi Roberto, a natural central midfielder, has struggled to break through at Barcelona and is now 23 years of age. With Sergi Samper emerging in midfield and the continuing excellence of Sergio Busquets barring his path to the XI, he's had to find other ways to impact.
This pre-season, Roberto has played as a right-back, and on Sunday night, he proved without a doubt he can overlap and cross—a trait generally not associated with his game in the past.
Three excellent deliveries found colleagues in space on the box—notably to Pedro early on and Jordi Alba unmarked at the far post a little later—providing Barca a wide element that's missing even when Dani Alves is playing.
With Aleix Vidal unable to play for the club until January due to the transfer ban, perhaps Luis Enrique's solution is to use Roberto as the backup right-back until the new man can be integrated.
Sending Martin Montoya on loan to Internazionale certainly indicates he wasn't happy to rely on him until Vidal can feature, but Roberto's performances in pre-season have given him a strong chance of making himself semi-relevant at least until 2016.
Joaquin, Among Others, Is Hungry for a Role
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It's a fresh slate under new manager Paulo Sousa, so every player starts from scratch. Squad members have used pre-season to prove they're worthy of a starting role, and that competitive element has even trickled down to the most senior of players on the books.
Joaquin, aged 34, is clearly up for the fight and pushing for a regular role in the XI. The voracity with which he attacked Jordi Alba on Sunday night, pushing him left then right, back then across, was really rather impressive.
He played a key role in both goals, delivering the clever cut-back for the second strike. He looked visibly irritated at being withdrawn late in the second half—a good sign as far as Sousa is concerned.
Federico Bernardeschi Is Raring to Go
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Federico Bernardeschi is one of a number of Fiorentina players hoping they can fill the void left by Mario Gomez. With the German moving to Turkey this summer after struggling a little in 2014-15, the Viola's attack is looking for a reliable, consistent goal-scorer.
Giuseppe Rossi's appearance off the bench was a nice sign—his injury-plagued career is among the saddest in 2015—but he's proved over and over again he can't stay fit enough to lead a club in its quest for goals.
Bernardeschi, though, having recovered from an injury that spoiled his end to a loan spell last term, scored two wonderful goals on Sunday—one peach of a header, one cool near-post finish from a cut-back—to stake his claim for that central striking position.
As BT Sport's James Horncastle revealed on Twitter, he's been given the No. 10 shirt ahead of the season—the same one Roberto Baggio wore during his time at Artemio Franchi. Our guess is Paulo Sousa quite fancies him to make a splash in a position of clear need.
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