Barcelona 2022-23 to kick off pre-season against Olot

On 13th July, Barcelona will play the first friendly of the 2022-23 pre-season against Unio Esportiva Olot, coinciding with the centenary of the La Garrotxa club. The match will be played at the Estadi Municipal d'Olot at 19:00.

The Catalan side will kick off their pre-season on 4th July, with the corresponding medical tests and the first training session. This match against Olot will be the first game of the summer for the blaugranas and is six days before the first (19th July in Miami) of the four matches that Barcelona will play on their American tour.

Xavi Hernandez's side will open their pre-season campaign against a newly promoted side to the RFEF Second Division. The La Garrocha outfit, coached by Manix Mandiola in the final stretch of the competition, finished second in their Group V RFEF Tercera, and later overcame Sant Andreu and Girona B in their league play-offs. Promotion to the RFEF Second Division was confirmed in a play-off against CD Tenerife's reserve team in Las Rozas on 22nd May (1-0).

The meeting in Olot will be the first between the two clubs since 1980. That match on 7th May 1980 ended 1-3 in Barca's favour, and is the last of the 10 matches between the two teams in their history. The others were in 1913, 1923, 1939, 1948, 1949, 1956, 1963, 1968 and 1972, and all were played in Olot. It should be remembered that the La Garrotxa team, founded in 1921, celebrated its centenary celebrations during the 2021-22 season.

Aside from the first team, it should be remembered that Barca Atletic and UE Olot met last season, in two matches that ended with the same result: 2-1 for the home side.

June 13, 2022