Barca sends warning to title rivals with 5-0 Gamper win

Amsterdam, Aug 11 (IANS) FC Barcelona wrapped up its preparations for the new La Liga season with a 5-0 home win over Italian side Como to take home Joan Gamper Trophy.

The club has again faced a challenging summer, with ongoing financial issues affecting player registration in the first-team squad and renovation work on Camp Nou. As a result, Sunday's traditional Joan Gamper game was played at the nearby Johan Cruyff Stadium, which has a capacity of 6,000, reports Xinhua.

Those in attendance saw a first-half display from Hansi Flick's team that showed its sharpness in front of goal.

Fermin Lopez opened the scoring in the 21st minute with a low shot into the bottom corner. He added a second in the 36th minute, firing into the top corner after receiving a pull-back inside the penalty area.

Marcus Rashford was involved in setting up Raphinha for Barcelona's third two minutes later, battling into the area and sliding the ball across for the Brazilian to finish from close range.

Raphinha then capitalised on a defensive error to win the ball in the Como area and set up Lamine Yamal for a simple tap-in two minutes before halftime.

Yamal scored his second three minutes into the second half, placing a first-time shot across goal to finish off a counterattack.

The fifth goal completed the scoring, with both teams making changes in the second half as the match lost intensity. Barcelona now turns its attention to the start of the league campaign.

Lopez was the standout player in Barca's 5-0 win over Como in the 60th edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy. He scored both the two opening goals, one with each foot, and was the obvious choice to be named Estrella ('Star') of the game, as voted by FC Barcelona website users.

"It was a game about building confidence ready for the start of La Liga. The important thing is the team did a very good job," he said after receiving his prize.

--IANS

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