Barcelona decide fate of Arsenal clash after virus outbreak

The status of Arsenal’s pre-season friendly against Barcelona has become uncertain after the Spanish giants had to cancel their match against Juventus this weekend.

Barcelona‘s United States tour was set to begin with a match against the Bianconeri on Saturday. However, the game had to be canceled because several players in the squad were affected by viral gastroenteritis.

Yesterday Barcelona confirmed the cancelation with a statement:

“FC Barcelona hereby informs that the game against Juventus FC, scheduled for today, July 22 at 7:30 PM at Levi’s Stadium, as part of the Soccer Champions Tour, has been canceled. A significant part of the Blaugrana squad has viral gastroenteritis”

Reason for virus yet to be determined

Reports in Spain say there was an early attempt to move the game, but it was hard to do so. In fact, about ten of the team’s players are said to be sick, which is why the Camp Nou side canceled the match.

The La Liga winners haven’t given any more information about how this could have happened. The Spanish newspaper Marca has, as an example, pointed out that French defender Jules Kounde missed the first double training session in Los Angeles because he had stomach issues.

Will Barcelona face Arsenal on Wednesday?

They will now focus on their next planned match, on July 26, against Premier League runners-up Arsenal.

Since Xavi Hernandez’s team is scheduled to play at the SoFi Stadium, there has been a lot of questions about whether the affected players will recover in time.

However, the Blaugrana have made an official statement regarding the fate of their next friendly fixture: “FC Barcelona would like to encourage its fans to attend and enjoy the game we are going to play this Wednesday against Arsenal at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Both teams are in close contact and we both have the utmost confidence that our game will go on as planned.”

Photo credit: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire