Neymar makes his debut for FC Barcelona
New Barcelona signing Neymar says making his first appearance for the club in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday was a dream come true.
The 21-year-old came off the bench for the Catalan giants in a 2-2 draw against Lechia Gdansk in Poland.
It was Neymar's debut in a Barca shirt after his big-money move from Brazilian outfit Santos this transfer window.
Barcelona's next pre-season run-out will be against Santos, a match that was set up as part of Neymar's transfer to the La Liga side.
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The match – which was postponed for over a week after the news of Tito Vilanova's resignation, to fight throat cancer, became public – saw Barcelona assistant coaches Jordi Roura and Rubi again take charge.
The club's new manager, Gerardo Martino, is yet to coach Barcelona in a match.
Roura and Rubi opted for a 4-3-3 formation with Messi flanked by Sanchez and Cristian Tello going forward, while youngsters Sergi and Jonathan Dos Santos continued their pre-season involvement in midfield.
Barca should have scored after just eight minutes but Sanchez turned the ball over the bar from close range.
And Lechia took the lead in the 16th minute, against the run of play, thanks to a bullet header from captain Bieniuk, who rose highest to power home Pawel Dawidowicz's corner.
Their lead lasted just nine minutes, though, as a terrific Barcelona move saw Martin Montoya get to the byline and cut back for Sergi, who was on hand to tap in.
Lechia re-claimed the lead in the 50th minute as Montoya was punished for his failure to clear a long ball.
Grzelczak nipped in and behind him and ran to the byline, and although the opportunity looked lost, he fired a shot above Barcelona goalkeeper Oier Olazabal and in to the roof of the net from an acute angle.
It was an excellent finish and Lechia should have taken a 3-1 lead moments later, only for Patryk Tuszynski to miss from five yards.
Barcelona quickly made their opponents pay as another excellent display of passing football saw them score, with Messi the beneficiary on this occasion.
The Argentinian opened his body up after receiving a neat ball from Sanchez and he curled his left-foot effort into the back of the net.
Barcelona made a string of changes midway through the second half and the flow of the game was disrupted as a result.
Neymar produced excitement every time he touched the ball but there was to be no late drama as both sides settled for a draw.
Barca's next pre-season outing will be against Santos at Camp Nou on Friday.
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The 21-year-old came off the bench for the Catalan giants in a 2-2 draw against Lechia Gdansk in Poland.
It was Neymar's debut in a Barca shirt after his big-money move from Brazilian outfit Santos this transfer window.
Barcelona's next pre-season run-out will be against Santos, a match that was set up as part of Neymar's transfer to the La Liga side.
Get FC Barcelona tickets, Manchester City tickets and Champions League tickets securely online now!!
The match – which was postponed for over a week after the news of Tito Vilanova's resignation, to fight throat cancer, became public – saw Barcelona assistant coaches Jordi Roura and Rubi again take charge.
The club's new manager, Gerardo Martino, is yet to coach Barcelona in a match.
Roura and Rubi opted for a 4-3-3 formation with Messi flanked by Sanchez and Cristian Tello going forward, while youngsters Sergi and Jonathan Dos Santos continued their pre-season involvement in midfield.
Barca should have scored after just eight minutes but Sanchez turned the ball over the bar from close range.
And Lechia took the lead in the 16th minute, against the run of play, thanks to a bullet header from captain Bieniuk, who rose highest to power home Pawel Dawidowicz's corner.
Their lead lasted just nine minutes, though, as a terrific Barcelona move saw Martin Montoya get to the byline and cut back for Sergi, who was on hand to tap in.
Lechia re-claimed the lead in the 50th minute as Montoya was punished for his failure to clear a long ball.
Grzelczak nipped in and behind him and ran to the byline, and although the opportunity looked lost, he fired a shot above Barcelona goalkeeper Oier Olazabal and in to the roof of the net from an acute angle.
It was an excellent finish and Lechia should have taken a 3-1 lead moments later, only for Patryk Tuszynski to miss from five yards.
Barcelona quickly made their opponents pay as another excellent display of passing football saw them score, with Messi the beneficiary on this occasion.
The Argentinian opened his body up after receiving a neat ball from Sanchez and he curled his left-foot effort into the back of the net.
Barcelona made a string of changes midway through the second half and the flow of the game was disrupted as a result.
Neymar produced excitement every time he touched the ball but there was to be no late drama as both sides settled for a draw.
Barca's next pre-season outing will be against Santos at Camp Nou on Friday.
About 1st4FootballTickets.com: Thousands of football tickets are on sale on Europe's biggest football ticketing website: We have English Premier League tickets such as Tottenham Hotspur 2013 tickets, Liverpool FC tickets and tickets for Everton. But also football cup tickets such as UEFA Super Cup 2013 Tickets and World Cup 2014 tickets.
