After getting knocked out in the quarterfinals of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona has a clearer schedule until the end of the season. They only have six League games left (including one midweek match in Almería on May 15) and the chance to finish second to qualify for the next edition of the Spanish Super Cup. Despite already meeting the budget for the European competition, Barcelona is considering playing a friendly match abroad to bring in extra income for the club’s financial year 2023-24.
Barça played a friendly match this season in Dallas against Club América on December 22, resulting in a Mexican victory (2-3). This game followed a League match against Almería at the Estadi Olímpic. The match in Dallas brought in five million euros for the club, making up for the loss of revenue from a canceled friendly against Juventus in Santa Clara due to food poisoning and the missed opportunity of earning 2.8 million from a league victory to reach the expected 15 points.
There is a gap in the schedule between the last League game on May 26 and the Champions League final, which Barcelona won’t be playing on June 1. This break allows the players to rest before heading off to the Euro Cup and the Copa América, starting on June 14 in Germany and June 20 in the United States, respectively.
If plans go ahead, Barcelona will repeat what they did in the last two seasons. After LaLiga ended, Xavi Hernández‘s team traveled to Sydney, Australia, for a friendly match on May 24, 2022, against an Australian League team, earning them five million. Then, on June 6, 2023, as the new Spanish League champions, they earned three million for flying to Tokyo to face Andrés Iniesta‘s Vissel Kobe.
To this we must add the duel against Boca Juniors in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) on December 14, 2021 for which he took just over two million, already with Xavi Hernández as Barça coach a month after having relieved Ronald Koeman. Last December there was the option of playing in an Arab country or China, something that could be revived.
This content has been translated and adapted from the Spanish version of the digital newspaper
