{"id":94928,"date":"2026-05-29T19:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T19:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/94928\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T19:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T19:17:13","slug":"barcelonas-pre-season-plans-change-ajax-ruled-out-for-gamper-trophy-liverpool-friendly-cancelled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/94928\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona\u2019s pre-season plans change \u2013 Ajax ruled out for Gamper Trophy; Liverpool friendly cancelled"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to SPORT<\/a>, FC Barcelona<\/a> are having to make some key changes to their pre-season plans for the summer.<\/p>\n

The Blaugrana had been pencilled in to face Dutch giants AFC Ajax<\/a> in the Joan Gamper Trophy match before the season starts. There were also plans for them to play a friendly against Liverpool in Nairobi, Kenya<\/a> \u2013 but both are now off.<\/p>\n

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Ajax no longer possible<\/p>\n

As per the report, Ajax will no longer be able to take part in the traditional curtain-raiser because they are scheduled to play qualifying rounds for European competitions during those dates.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, RB Leipzig<\/a>, as previously reported, have also been removed from consideration due to scheduling conflicts, with their existing pre-season commitments making the match impossible to arrange.<\/p>\n

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Ajax will not play in the Gamper Trophy. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

With those two options no longer available, Barcelona are now considering four possible opponents for the Gamper Trophy. The clubs currently under discussion are Roma, Borussia Dortmund<\/a>, Napoli<\/a> and Mexican side Cruz Azul.<\/p>\n

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These are the four alternatives currently being assessed by the Catalan club, although no final decision has yet been taken and discussions with the clubs remain ongoing.<\/p>\n

The choice of opponent will depend on both sporting and logistical considerations, as the club wants to ensure an attractive fixture for supporters while also fitting within the first team\u2019s pre-season plans.<\/p>\n

Liverpool friendly cancelled<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another proposal that has now been virtually ruled out is a friendly against Liverpool in Nairobi.<\/p>\n

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Plans to play Liverpool are shelved. (Photo by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The option has steadily lost momentum and has now fallen out of Barcelona\u2019s current plans, with the club focusing efforts on alternative destinations to complete the summer calendar.<\/p>\n

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As such, beyond the main training camp in England, the possibility of Barcelona playing a match in Argentina against River Plate is gaining momentum.<\/p>\n

The idea has been on the table for some time and has gathered strength in recent days, with the club now seriously studying its feasibility.<\/p>\n

In addition, another option being explored is a friendly in Morocco against a local team. That possibility is also progressing alongside the club\u2019s wider international plans for next summer\u2019s pre-season schedule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to SPORT, FC Barcelona are having to make some key changes to their pre-season plans for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[101],"tags":[749,199,1210,6185,2102,49484,13927,1491,200,7345],"class_list":["post-94928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-amsterdam","tag-ajax","tag-amsterdam","tag-barcelona","tag-borussia-dortmund","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-gamper-trophy","tag-liverpool","tag-napoli","tag-netherlands","tag-rb-leipzig"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116659476573856597","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}