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Barcelona finished their preparations for the new season with a 2-1 win against Egyptian giants Al Ahly at Camp Nou in the 2026 edition of the annual Joan Gamper Trophy, as first half goals from Hamza Abdelkarim and Raphinha were enough to secure a win in the preseason finale. Barcelona 2-1 Al Ahly, Joan Gamper Trophy: Hamza Abdelkarim, Raphinha on target again as Barça win preseason finale A winning return to Camp Nou Barça played a solid first half, moving the ball well from back to front but struggling to create in the final third thanks to a couple of bad touches and misplaced passes by Lamine Yamal, who looked very much still in early preseason form. The midfield trio of Marc Bernal, Xavi Espart and Fermín López looked excellent and Bernal was especially impressive as a single pivot. Hansi Flick played a 4-3-3 once again, as he continues to prepare his midfield for new signing Rodri. Hamza Abdelkarim started up front and was impressive once again with his movements in the box and link-up play in the final third, and he scored against his former club thanks to a great pass from Raphinha at the start of the move and an assist from Alejandro Balde. Raphinha had a slow start but eventually grew into the game, and he won and scored a penalty just before halftime to give Barça a deserved 2-0 lead at the break. Flick made plenty of changes to start the second half and a team filled with youngsters and reserves struggled to find their rhythm early, and Zizo scored for the visitors on the counter to halve the deficit and make things more interesting just five minutes into second half. Barça remained dominant and Karim Adeyemi was very direct and aggressive in his substitute minutes, but the Catalans struggled to create big opportunities to find a third goal. Flick continued to bring in fresh bodies off the bench, including Gavi and Pedri who made their first appearances of preseason. Anthony Gordon finished the game as a false nine, and he won a late penalty to restore Barça’s two-goal lead but his spot kick was saved by the keeper. The final whistle came to end a solid preseason for the Catalans, who didn’t have many of their starters for most of it but had great contributions from exciting La Masia prospects and a young striker in Hamza Abdelkarim who is making a serious case for real minutes in the new season. The Gamper win wasn’t exactly amazing to watch, but many big names are still finding their rhythm and no one wants to get injured so close to the league opener against Elche at the weekend. Well done, boys!