Everything indicates that Lazio led by the Serbian Milinkovic-Savic will be in charge of opening the season at the Montjuïc stadium on August 8 as a rival to FC Barcelona in the Joan Gamper tournament, as AS has learned. Negotiations are very advanced so that the Calcio runner-up team will be the one to open the course, in a match that, without a doubt, presents itself with many incentives, among them, that It will be the first time that the tournament has been played outside the Camp Nou. Another could be the return to Barcelona of Pedro, the current Lazio player, as long as he ends up renewing for another year, since his contract ends on June 30.
There is no doubt that the opponent has many factors to make the match very attractive. And it is that apart from its star, Milinkovic-Savic, the team led by Maurizio Sarri brings together stars such as Ciro Immobile, Luka Romero or Alessio Romagnoli, all of them international.
In addition, it will be a good test to assimilate the level of Xavi’s team a few days after the start of the LaLiga championship –makes his debut against Getafe that weekend-, since he will face a Champions League team. It must be remembered that Lazio finished the Italian championship in second position, surpassed only by Napoli.
A month and a half after this game is played, the unknown regarding the team that Xavi can present is absolute.
At the moment, no departure remains confirmed that allows the release of the salary mass to register the players who have committed to the Blaugrana team: Gündogan and Iñigo Martínez.
It will also be a test for the match scenario itself. And it is that Barcelona will be able to directly test the facilities of Montjuïc and its operation with a view to the next official commitments. The Gamper tournament will be on this occasion, apart from the official presentation of the squad to the fans, a full-fledged exam to check all the aspects to improve, both external and internal mobility. And it is that, after the summer tournament, the club will have almost a month and a half ahead to finish completing the necessary improvements and reconversions, since only one more game is expected to be played during that period: on August 20 against Cádiz on the second day of LaLiga.