Barcelona vs AS Monaco Preview

Barcelona will host AS Monaco on Monday in their final pre-season game before the new season begins.

The Catalan side returned from their tour of the United States last week. Barca faced Manchester City, Real Madrid and AC Milan during their trip to the States but only recorded a direct win against their rivals Real Madrid, needing penalties to beat City before losing on penalties to AC Milan.

However, it was a productive pre-season for Hansi Flick’s side who are looking to improve on last season’s second-place finish and win the title ahead of Madrid.

The hosts have already sealed the summer signing of Dani Olmo from RB Leipzig and the Spanish international is expected to play in this game. Barca fans will hope he can hit the ground running ahead of their side’s season opener away at Valencia next weekend.

Meanwhile, Barca is the sixth side AS Monaco will be facing in this summer’s pre-season.

The French Ligue 1 side have faced BFC Dynamo, Servette, Cercle Brugge, Sturm Graz, Feyenoord and Genoa but were only able to get a win against Feyenoord who they defeated 3-1.

As such, they come into this final game of the summer pre-season in dour form with much to prove. A win here, albeit inconsequential, will give their fans the feeling that they are ready to challenge for the Ligue 1 title and finish above Paris Saint-Germain having finished in second place last season.