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Barcelona have confirmed that Tottenham Hotspur will be their opponents for the Joan Gamper trophy, the traditional curtain-raiser of the season for the Catalan club. The match will take place on August 8 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, where Barcelona will play their home games this season due to renovations at Camp Nou.
The Joan Gamper trophy, named after the club’s founding member, player, and president, is an annual friendly match that Barcelona has hosted since 1966. Earlier it used to include four teams but were reduced to two in 1997. The Blaugrana have won the trophy 43 times and are unbeaten in the fixture since 2012 when they lost to Sampdoria.
This will be the third time that the Joan Gamper Trophy match will be played at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium after 1990 and 1996 when the venue was shifted from Camp Nou due to a change of the pitch. Tottenham will be the first English team to participate in the Joan Gamper trophy twice, having previously taken part in 1986 when it was a four-team tournament. Spurs lost to PSV Eindhoven on penalties in the semi-finals that year.
The last time Barcelona and Tottenham faced each other was in the group stage of the 2018/19 Champions League. Barcelona won 4-2 at Wembley Stadium before drawing 1-1 at Camp Nou, a result that helped Spurs qualify for the knockout stage.
The match will serve as the final pre-season test for both teams before the start of their respective domestic campaigns. Barcelona will kick off their La Liga title defense against Getafe on August 14, while Tottenham will begin their Premier League 2023-24 season at Brentford on August 13.
