FC Barcelona have announced that a significant part of the squad has viral gastroenteritis due to which their friendly game against Juventus has been cancelled.
The names of the players who are affected by the infection are yet to be determined.
“FC Barcelona hereby informs that the game against Juventus FC, scheduled for today, July 22 at 7:30 pm local time (4.30am Sunday CEST) at Levi’s Stadium, as part of the Soccer Champions Tour, has been canceled. A significant part of the blaugrana squad has a viral gastroenteritis,” the club stated in an official statement.
The news is nothing less than a spirit-crusher for the football fans who had been waiting to see their star players in action for the first time since the previous season ended in May.
As of now, it is still unclear if tonight’s future will be rescheduled in a couple of days or not because the Catalan club will have to play three games in a span of 11 days, following their jam-packed schedule.
Many of the fans were excited to see new signings like Inigo Martinez and Ilkay Gundogan in action but as of now, it seems like they will have to wait till Wednesday (July 26) when the Spanish champions take on the English club Arsenal at Los Angeles Charges’ SoFi stadium.
Meanwhile, on next Saturday (July 29), Xavi’s men will face the arch-rivals Real Madrid at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas where a house-full is expected.
Madrid fans will be just as excited as the Catalans to see their new signings like Jude Bellingham, Fran Garcia, Brahim Diaz, Turk prodigy Arda Guler and Joselu donning the Royal White shirt in an El-Clasico.
The Los Blancos will begin their pre-season campaign on Sunday (July 23) against Italian Club AC Milan at the Rose Bowl stadium in California. Meanwhile, before taking on Barcelona on July 29, they will have one more test against Erik Ten Hag’s Manchester United at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.