Arsenal vs. Barcelona: Result 5-3

Arsenal and Barcelona wasface off in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Arsenal have had a mixed pre-season so far, winning one, drawing one, and losing one of their friendlies. Barcelona, on the other hand, have been hit by a number of injuries and illnesses, and they were forced to cancel their most recent friendly against Juventus due to an outbreak of stomach flu.

This match is a great opportunity for both teams to test their strengths and weaknesses ahead of the new season. Arsenal will be looking to build on their recent win over MLS All-Stars, while Barcelona will be hoping to get some of their injured players back on the pitch.

The Gunners came out on top in a mouth-watering pre-season friendly in Los Angeles on Wednesday, making it a fine end to their pre-season tour of the United States. Arsenal had only beaten Barcelona once in their last nine attempts in the Champions League, but triumphed in an eight-goal thriller at SoFi Stadium.

Declan Rice was a surprise absentee from Mikel Arteta’s matchday squad, but his omission did not prove costly in the end. Arsenal faced a Barcelona side who were embarking on their first run-out of the summer and have been hit by an illness in the squad, leading to the cancellation of their meeting with Juventus. Ilkay Gundogan played his first minutes since signing from Manchester City, with Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha twice giving them the lead in the first half, though those efforts were cancelled out each time by Bukayo Saka - who also missed a penalty - and Kai Havertz.

Kai Havertz was in the right place at the far post to turn home Martin Odegaard’s header to level things up again before the break and we deservedly went ahead when Leandro Trossard arrowed home his shot from just inside the area. Trossard scored his second, finishing from Kieran Tierney's cross, before Ferran Torres briefly brought Barcelona back into it.

But Fabio Vieira ensured the scoreline had the gloss we deserved with a stunner late on.

No Rice, no problem for five-star Arsenal, though - only their second win over Barcelona in their last 10 attempts.

A fine way to end their pre-season tour and bounce back from the disappointment of losing to Manchester United in New Jersey at the weekend.

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 Sarah H

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