Last night Barcelona played with a great passion against Chapecoense in the Joan Gamper Trophy. Barcelona invited Chapecoense to take part in this season’s Joan Gamper Trophy match after last year’s devastating plane crash which killed 71 people, who were given the biggest reception. They were also given €250,000 by Barca as way of a donation.
Only five people survived, three footballers among them. They were all present at Camp Nou, with left-back Alan Ruschel making his return to action in this match and featuring for 35 minutes. He was joined on the pitch by defender Neto (who was in tears) and goalkeeper Jackson Follmann (who now has a prosthetic leg after losing a limb in the crash) in emotional scenes before kick-off.
Within four minutes, Ernesto Valverde’s side could have been 2-0 up; within 12 minutes they were. Messi had already drawn a save from Elias and Ivan Rakitic had headed over when a swift team move and some unselfish play from the latter created a tap in for Deulofeu, who took the departed Neymar’s place on the left wing.
Barca won 5-0 in the end, with Luis Suarez and Denis Suarez both on the scoresheet in the second half, in which Paco Alcacer saw a penalty saved by Artur Moraes and both teams made multiple changes.
“Today is a very special day because we welcome Chapecoense,” Andres Iniesta said before kick-off as he addressed the fans. “I hope you enjoy an unforgettable day.” And Valverde added: “It’s an honour to welcome Chapecoense.”