Overview
Birmingham City will enter the biggest test since the beginning of the pre-season when hosting Barcelona at home.
Coach Chris Davies' team is preparing very actively. They won all four of their first friendly matches, defeating Huddersfield Town 3-1, Solihull Moors 3-0, Burton Albion 1-0 and Crewe Alexandra 2-1.
Facing Barcelona is a special opportunity for Birmingham to test their ability before entering the 2026-2027 Championship season. The Midlands team will start their new campaign with a match against Swansea City in the first round of the English League Cup on August 8, before facing Sheffield United, Bristol City and Wrexham in the first rounds of the Championship.
In the 2026 summer transfer window, Birmingham has strengthened its force with 4 new signings. Most notably is midfielder Jhon Solis, who was bought outright from Girona after a successful period on loan last season.
On Barcelona's side, coach Hansi Flick's team chose to train in the Midlands region (England) instead of touring the US or Asia due to the schedule being affected by the 2026 World Cup.
After the confrontation with Birmingham, the defending La Liga champions will meet Preston North End, Nottingham Forest, Udinese and Al Ahly respectively before entering the new season.
Barcelona had a favorable start in the summer friendly series when they defeated CE Europa with a score of 4-1. In the transfer market, the Catalan team also attracted attention when recruiting Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi, while Robert Lewandowski left the club after his contract expired.
The Barcelona squad going to England this time gathers most of the first team stars, along with many young talents from Barcelona B and the U19 team. This will be an opportunity for Hansi Flick to continue to test the squad and improve his playing style before La Liga 2026-2027 kicks off with a guest trip to Elche's stadium on August 23.
Personnel situation
Birmingham City is likely to give a debut opportunity to new signing Luis Vazquez, the striker who just joined the team from Anderlecht. Main striker Jay Stansfield is expected to continue to lead the attack, while Patrick Roberts and Carlos Vicente are also ready to be in the starting lineup.
Coach Chris Davies can rotate the force between halves to assess the players' form. Center-back Dael Fry and goalkeeper James Beadle are predicted to start from the beginning.
On Barcelona's side, Karim Adeyemi has joined forces and can appear to fans in a new shirt. However, coach Hansi Flick will not have the services of the eight Spanish players who just won the 2026 World Cup, including Ferran Torres, Joan Garcia, Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsi, Gavi, Dani Olmo, Pedri and Lamine Yamal.
Newcomer Anthony Gordon is also not ready to play after his journey with the England team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
Barcelona's starting lineup will likely include Ronald Araujo, Alejandro Balde, Marc Bernal and Karim Adeyemi. Midfielder Fermin Lopez can also return after recovering from an injury that caused him to miss the 2026 World Cup.
Expected lineup:
Birmingham City: Beadle, Osayi-Samuel, Klarer, Fry, Cochrane, Vicente, Solis, Iwata, Fujimoto, Roberts, Stansfield.
Barcelona: Szczesny, Fort, Araujo, Martin, Balde, Christensen, Casado, Bernal, Adeyemi, Kluivert, Roony.
The match between Birmingham City and Barcelona takes place at 1:45 a.m. August 1 (Vietnam time).
