It is the final break in La Liga for international fixtures of the 2023/24 season. The majority of Xavi Hernández’s players are on international duty and we are following their exploits around the globe.
Players on international duty:
Spain – Pau Cubarsí and Lamine Yamal
Germany – Marc-André ter Stegen and Ilkay Gündoğan
France – Jules Kounde
Brazil – Raphinha
Portugal – João Félix and João Cancelo
Uruguay – Ronald Araujo
Poland – Robert Lewandowski
Senegal – Mikayil Faye
Bolivia – Jaume Cuéllar
Spain U21 – Fermín López
Spain U19 – Héctor Fort and Marc Guiu
Saturday 23 March
England 0-1 Brazil
Raphinha played 79 minutes as Brazil scored late on to come away with a 0-1 win against hosts England at Wembley.
Euskadi 1-1 Uruguay
A goal either side of half-time saw this friendly at San Mamés end in a draw with Ronald Araujo not called up for the fixture.
France 0-2 Germany
Marc-André ter Stegen and captain Ilkay Gündoğa were on the winning side as Germany defeated France 0-2 in Lyon. Kounde played 61 minutes and was part of a good French spell in the first half, including Ter Stegen saving well from Mbappé, but a goal virtually from kick-off and another early goal after the break sealed the win for the visitors.
Friday 22 March
Spain 0-1 Colombia
Pau Cubarsí made his debut for the national side after coming on in the 83rd minute of the friendly against Colombia to replace Aymeric Laporte. Cubarsí became the second youngest player ever to appear for the Spanish national side behind his team mate Lamine Yamal who also featured against Colombia, coming on in the 72nd minute to replace Pablo Sarabia.
Senegal 3-0 Gabon
Barça Atlètic defender Mika Faye celebrated his debut for Senegal by scoring the second in a 3-0 win for West African side in friendly against Gabon. Faye was named in the starting XI by coach Aliou Cissé and played 80 minutes of the game in the Stade de la Licorne in Amiens, France.
Algeria 3-2 Bolivia
Another Barça Atlétic squad member, Jaume Cuellar, played 68 minutes of Bolivia’s 3-2 defeat in a friendly in Algiers against Algeria.
Thursday 21 March
Poland 5-1 Estonia
Robert Lewandowski and Poland are now within one game of securing a place at Euro 24 after comfortably seeing off Estonia 5-1 in Warsaw. The Barça striker gave one assist but surprisingly didn’t get on the scoresheet despite playing all 90 minutes of a game that Poland never looked like losing, especially after their guests had a man sent off after 27 minutes. The prize is a game on Tuesday night against Wales, who beat Finland 4-1, and who will have the advantage of playing at home in Cardiff.
Spain U21 0-2 Slovakia U21
Fermín López was in the Spanish side for the first 45 minutes of a game in which Slovakia picked up an unexpected 2-0 win in Jerez de la Frontera. The Barça player came very close to scoring on 35 minutes when Spain were already trailing 1-0, but then sat out the second half as the squad was rotated, this being a friendly.
Portugal 5-2 Sweden
João Félix and João Cancelo were being rested and watched from the stands this evening, but were thoroughly entertained as their countrymen scored five against Sweden.
