Birmingham City faced Barcelona at St Andrew's this evening - here's how we rated their players
August Priske scores for Birmingham City against FC Barcelona
August Priske scores for Birmingham City against FC Barcelona
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Birmingham City defeated five-times European champions Barcelona in an entertaining pre-season friendly at a packed St Andrew's.
August Priske opened the scoring with his fourth goal of pre-season - and a steepling header that bodes well for the season, before 18-year-old Hamza Abdelkarim scored twice either side of half-time.
The striker converted a penalty and then poked home a rebound in front of the Tilton Road end.
Then midway through the second period Jhon Solis equalised with a close range finish after a well-worked free-kick.
The game was decided by a penalty shoot out with Scott Wright, Ethan Laird and Patrick Roberts all scoring in a 3-2 win that saw James Beadle save two of Barca's five efforts.
Chris Davies named a strong team with Phil Neumann partnering Christoph Klarer at the heart of the defence and Solis and Tomoki Iwata in the middle of the park.
New signing Luis Vazquez was named on the bench, while Hansi Flick gave a debut to new signing Karim Adeyemi on the right wing.
The German international caused Blues a few problems when he got in behind Alex Cochrane on the odd occasion but mainly the hosts were a decent match for a young visiting team.
Indeed they might have taken the lead when Neumann flicked Beadle's free kick into the box. Priske had escaped his marker but couldn't find the touch to nick the ball past Wojciech Szczesny.
Blues opened the scoring in the 32nd minute and it was good build-up work after a loose pass from Barca in their own half. Jay Stansfield popped up on the left of the box and rolled back for Cochrane.
The left back produced a quality delivery that picked out Priske at the back. The Dane rose above Marc Casado and headed down, across Szczesny and inside the far post.
Barca levelled three minutes before the break when Marc Bernal escaped Bright Osayi-Samuel and rolled a pass into the box for Abdelkarim. The Egyptian nipped ahead of Klarer but was clipped by the Blues captain for a clear-cut spot-kick.
The 18-year-old picked himself up to send Beadle the wrong way.
Blues nearly reclaimed the lead just before the break when Iwata nodded a loose ball goalwards but Szczesny tipped over.
Barca went 2-1 up on the hour after Beadle spilled a shot from Roony Bardghji and Abdelkarim pounced on the error. It was the kind of mistake the Brighton loanee needs to eradicate to inspire confidence from the home crowd.
But Davies' team were back on level terms eight minutes later from a brilliant set-piece routine.
Cochrane lifted a central free kick to the back of the area, Klarer headed into the middle and Solis was on hard to poke home from close range.
Beadle made a couple of good saves at the death and emerged as the hero with a super display in the penalty shoot-out.
Beadle 6
Sent the wrong way with the first half penalty and only had one nervy kicking moment - which wasn't his fault. Overall it was a solid enough return to St Andrew's until he coughed up Bardghji's shot at Abdelkarim's feet. It was an uncomfortable moment but he atoned with two saves in the shoot-out.
Osayi-Samuel 6
One decent covering tackle stopped a Barca counter, but his failure to stop Marc Bernal before the penalty left Blues exposed.
Neumann 7
Probably the more solid of the two centre backs, a good early cover tackle on Adeyemi and a couple of headers in the opposition box.
Klarer 6.5
Caught flat-footed for the penalty and looked uncomfortable when he was drawn into midfield to pick up players. Provided an assist for Solis' goal though.
Cochrane 8*
Lovely delivery for Priske's goal and did reasonably well with Adeyemi who was desperate to exploit space in behind when Cochrane strayed forward. Nearly scored with a superb cross-shot that would have illuminated a really good display.
Iwata 6.5
Solid enough in the middle of the park without dictating play. Kept things stitched up though and forced a good save out of Szcznesny.
Solis 7.5
A really promising performance from the Colombian who won tackles, second balls and was on hand to make it 2-2 from close range.
Vicente 6.5
Some bright play from the Spaniard who was industrious despite picking up a knock in the first half.
Fujimoto 5
Never really anything more than on the fringes of the game. Slow to react and rarely anticipated any of Priske's flick-ons. The game passed him by.
Stansfield 6
Worked hard up and down the left flank but probably didn't quite maximise the one or two openings he had. First to go off when he was replaced by Wright.
Priske 7
Led the line well against the experienced Christensen. Scored a fabulous header and was a good outlet for his team.
Substitutes
Wright (for Stansfield, 58) Did well in his half hour 6
Laird (for Osayi-Samuel, 76) N/A
Buchanan (for Cochrane, 76) N/A
Fry (for Neumann, 76) N/A
Robinson (for Klarer, 76) N/A
Mazwi (for Solis, 76) N/A
Maddox (for Iwata, 76) N/A
Vazquez (for Priske, 76) N/A
Bateman (for Vicente, 76) N/A
Roberts (for Fujimoto, 76) N/A
Not used: Allsop, Mayo, Burrell
Opposition
Barcelona: Szczesny; Espart, Christensen, Martin, Torrents; Casado, Bernal, Tunkara; Adeyemi, Abdelkarim, Kluivert. Subs: Yaakobishvili, Iker Rodriguez, Fort, Araujo, Cortes, G Fernandez, A Fernandez, Farinas, Marques, Raphinha, Fermin Lopez, Roony Bardghji, Gonzalez, Orian, Goren, Gistau, Diarra, Pesquer
Goals
Blues: Priske (32), Solis (69)
Barcelona: Abdelkarim (pen 42, 60)
What did you make of Blues' performance? Have your say
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