Anthony Gordon’s first appearance for Barcelona produced a commanding win at Basel as the reigning La Liga champions played their final friendly before the start of the season at St. Jakob-Park.
England forward Gordon, who joined Barca from Newcastle for £69.3 million in May, set up a fine chance for Eric Garcia in the third minute before fellow new signing Karim Adeyemi scored his first goal for the club by firing in following Raphinha’s cross in the 34th minute.
Jean Doucoure blasted Basel level from inside the box nine minutes later but Egypt prodigy Hamza Abdelkarim slid in to restore the Spanish side’s lead four minutes after half-time.
Lamine Yamal convered an 81st-minute penalty following Nicolas Vouilloz’s foul on Jules Kounde to increase the margin to 3-1, with Kazeem Olaigbe following suit as a consequence of Brian Farinas impeding Kevin Ruegg.
Winger Jesse Bisiwu, 18, showed why he joined Barca from Belgian club Brugge in July by curling in their fourth in the 89th minute, then completed the scoring with a finish from inside the box two minutes later.
Basel team vs Barcelona
Basel starting XI: Renato, Kevin Ruegg, Becir Omeragic, Nicolas Vouilloz, Evann Senaya, Jonas Harder, Metinho, Jean Doucoure, Aaron Malouda, Philip Otele, Albian Ajete
Basel substitutes: Mirko Salvi, Keigo Tsunemoto, Ludwig Malachowski, Zan Celar, Xherdan Shaqiri, Kazeem Olaigbe, Andrej Bacanin, Asane Sow, Flavius Daniliuc, Moussa Cisse, Giacomo Koloto, Noah Kakor, Victory Akpe, Leon White, Moyo-Ola Uruejoma, Cyrill Emch
Barcelona team vs Basel
Barcelona starting XI: Joan Garcia, Xavi Espart, Gerard Martin, Andreas Christensen, Alejandro Balde, Eric Garcia, Marc Bernal, Karim Adeyemi, Fermin Lopez, Raphinha, Anthony Gordon
Barcelona substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Pau Cubarsi, Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Jules Kounde, Eder Aller, Alvaro Cortes, Ebrima Tunkara, Jesse Bisiwu, Jordi Pesquer, Brian Farinas, Orian Goren, Hamza Abdelkarim
Basel vs Barcelona friendly stats
- Basel’s friendly against a Spanish side last season was a 3-3 draw with Villarreal in Altach, taking the lead three times through Xherdan Shaqiri, Albian Ajeti and Kevin Carlos
- That was their first meeting with a Spanish club since 2019, beating Getafe 1-0 away and 2-1 at home during the Europa League group stage, including goals in each game by Fabian Frei
- Against Spanish teams in competitive fixtures, Basel’s record is W4 D5 L11, including a five-match winless run (L4 D1) before those victories over Getafe
- Their most frequent opponents from Spain are Real Madrid, losing 2-1 home and away in the 1971/72 UEFA Cup and 1-0 at home and 5-1 away during the 2014/15 Champions League group stage
- Last season, Basel had the worst goal difference (-3) of any team in the championship round of the Swiss Super League by 14 goals, behind Young Boys, who were the only club to finish below them in the section
- Barcelona’s defeat at Udinese on August 4 was their first pre-season loss since Monaco beat them at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys to win the Joan Gamper Trophy in August 2024
- Their last encounter with a Swiss club was a 5-0 home win over Young Boys during the league phase of the Champions League in October 2024, including a Raphinha goal
- Barca’s competitive record against Swiss clubs is W4 D1, with Basel the only such side to avoid defeat thanks to Eren Derdiyok’s equaliser after Lionel Messi had put Pep Guardiola’s team ahead during the second half at Camp Nou during the Champions League group stage in November 2008
- The previous month, Messi scored after four minutes and Sergio Busquets and Xavi netted either side of Bojan Krkic’s double as Barcelona won 5-0 in Basel
- Both of Barcelona’s previous meetings with Swiss clubs came during the 1968/69 Cup Winners’ Cup, scoring all of their goals after the 74th minute in a 1-0 away win and 3-0 home victory over Lugano
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