One moment of concentration loss from Claudio Bravo allowed Blerim Dzemaili to score a late goal from far away to give Napoli a 1-0 win over Barcelona in their preseason friendly clash, although Barca, still playing without some of their best players, were the better side throughout most of the match.
Barcelona didn’t play with their strongest outfit, but Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic were out there, giving Napoli most of their problems. Pedro had a strong second half, but seeing former Real Madrid players like Callejon and Albiol didn’t help Barcelona kick it up to another gear.
It was a solid day between the posts for Rafael Cabral, making quite a few saves, especially in the first half, to deny Barcelona a lead they were deserving of. In front of the empty stands in the Stade de Geneve there wasn’t too much of an exciting match that developed, but we still saw some solid football from both sides.
After 60 minutes Luis Enrique took out almost everybody to make it seem like Barcelona B were playing out there, while Napoli and Rafa Benitez also made their substitutions. Edgar Ié, Samper, Sandro, Sergi Robert, Grimaldo and Halilovic all coming on for Piqué, Sergio, Munir, Iniesta, Jordi Alba and Rakitic.
Still, a goal had to be found, and in the 80th minute, a fantastic shot from Blerim Dzemaili found its way headed with a swerve towards Bravo. The Chilean goalkeeper had time and clear line of vision to make the save, but he seemed to be surprised by the speed and direction of the ball, letting it slide through his hands and giving up the goal, eventually meaning Barcelona lost the match.