The A-League All Stars have come close to stunning European giants FC Barcelona in front of 70,174 fans at Sydneys Accor Stadium, as they were narrowly defeated 3-2.
FC Barcelona went into the half-time break with a 1-0 lead, after broke they the deadlock in the 33rd minute with Ousmane Dembele’s low strike leaving Filip Kurto with little chance of saving.
There was a scarce amount of goal scoring opportunities in the first half hour, with All Stars Midfielder Jay O’Shea forcing a brilliant save out of Ter Stegen being the best chance of the lot for the local side.
The All Stars made an instant impact in the second half, with Reno Piscopo bundling the ball home to draw the local side level after only a few seconds, much to the delight of the home crowd.
It would not be long before Adama Traore would double the lead for the All Stars, after a brilliant counter attack started off by Rhyan Grant was finished off superbly by Traore, after Reno Piscopo turned Dani Alves inside out, before putting the ball on a platter for Traore.
Dwight Yorke made a number of changes early into the second half, with subsititute Garang Kuol almost making an instant impact as his 66th minute strike came within inches of putting his side 3-1 up.
In the 72nd minute Barcelona’s Adama Traore would emulate his namesake and put his name on the scoresheet, as Andrew Redmayne was unable to deal with his powerful strike, it would be his last action in the match before being replaced by Ansu Fati.
Ansu Fati would restore Barcelona’s lead, as he put them up 3-2 with a superb piece of football, showing Barcelona’s prowess in front of goal and why they are one of the most feared teams in the world.
The game would go on to end 3-2 in favour of FC Barcelona, as Dwight Yorke’s side found it difficult to claw back momentum after going behind.
Key Takeaways:
DAVIDSON DOWN
Bad news for Melbourne Victory fans, as their sides star left-back Jason Davidson went down with injury in the 28th minute, and was forced off to make way for Western Sydney Wanderer Adama Traore, who went face to face with his namesake from the Catalan giants.
DWIGHT’S DEBUT
Former Sydney FC marquee Dwight Yorke made his managerial debut tonight, taking charge of the A-League All Stars in their first match since 2014 against Juventus.
Dwight Yorke impressed in his first role as a manager, going toe-to-toe with Barcelona, showing A-League fans what they may be in order to expect as he prepares to take the reins of A-League Men side Macarthur FC in the 2022/23 season.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
A number of exciting young players were called into Dwight Yorke’s A-League All Stars side, with many of them relishing the chance to take on some of the biggest stars in the world in front of a bumper crowd.
Garang Kuol almost made an instant name for himself, with his hard running and attacking intelligence almost earned him an instant goal, and came close to scoring a dream goal in the 88th minute as his strike hit the crossbar.
Nestory Irankunda showed no signs of nerves as he come up against 39-year-old legend Dani Alves, and young Adelaide United defender Aleksandar Popovic also got the chance to feature for the All Stars, capping off what has been an incredible debut season.
FINAL SCORE:
A-Leagues All Stars 2 (Piscopo 47m, Traore 52m)
FC Barcelona 3 (Dembele 33m, Traore 71m, Fati 76m)
