Bengaluru FC to face Barcelona and Villarreal reserve sides in pre-season friendlies

Two-time I-League champions Bengalruru FC will face the reserved sides of Spanish giants FC Barcelona and Villarreal as part of their pre-season campaign, the club announced on Friday.

Bengaluru, who finished as runner-up in their debut Indian Super League season last year and subsequently won the Super Cup, will travel to Spain for a fortnight-long pre-season camp as a preparation for their two-legged inter-zone clash against Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr FC next month.

The club announced the news of their latest pre-season plans on social media, sending fans into a frenzy.

We’ve got some big news coming in! The Blues are off to Spain for a pre-season that includes games against @FCBarcelonaB and @VillarrealCF B. Stay tuned! #BluesInSpain ?? ? pic.twitter.com/0Y1B32CNbc

— Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) July 27, 2018

They will also be training at the at the famous Masia La Grava facility in Valencia and would play a series of pre-season friendly games against 2015 AFC Champions League runner-up Shabab Al Ahli Dubai FC and Spanish Segunda B side, Atletico Saguntino.

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Masia La Grava, which consists of two full sized natural turfs apart from multiple other artificial turfs, has played host to many top European clubs like Athletic de Bilbao, Sevilla FC, Real Sociedad, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St. Petersburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Sparta Prague, Shanghai Shenhua and the Qatar national team over the years.

“We are really looking forward to what promises to be a very valuable pre-season tour in Spain. What’s key is the quality of opposition that we will be coming up against. Barcelona B and Villarreal B are massive clubs who work very well with their youth. It’s where players like Xavi, Iniesta and Santi Cazorla have come through,” said Coach Carles Cuadrat, quoted Scroll.in.

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Cuadrat’s boys will be up against the B teams of Barcelona and Villarreal during the second-half of their stay, with the clash against the Catalan giants set to be played at the 15,000-plus seater Mini Estadi in Barcelona.

The Blues are currently undergoing a 10-day pre-season training at their residential facility in Bellary, following which they will fly to Spain on July 30, for their second phase of training.

They will then return back to Bengaluru on August 15 ahead of their season kick-off against Altyn Asyr on August 22.