Preview: Barcelona vs Al Ahly - prediction, team news, lineups

Barcelona will round off their preparations for the 2026-27 campaign with a game against Egyptian outfit Al Ahly in the Joan Gamper Trophy match on Wednesday evening.

The Catalan team will play the opening match of their new La Liga season against Elche on August 23, while Al Ahly's new campaign will begin against Enppi on the same night.

Match preview

Barcelona have won the Joan Gamper Trophy on 47 previous occasions, and they will be looking for a 48th title on Wednesday to end their preparations for the new campaign on a positive note.

Hansi Flick's team have played five pre-season matches to date, boasting a record of three wins and two defeats, and they will enter this game off the back of an impressive 5-2 success over Basel.

Barcelona will now conclude their pre-season against Al Ahly before taking on Elche in their La Liga opener on August 23; the team's gameweek one match vs. Athletic Bilbao was rescheduled for August 27 due to the amount of players that were involved in the latter stages of the 2026 World Cup.

Flick's side have made three signings this summer, bringing in Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi and Jesse Bisiwu; two more should follow in the coming days in the shape of Rodri and Joao Cancelo.

There will be further movement in and out of Camp Nou before the transfer window closes, with Barcelona determined to bring in a new striker; Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez remains their main target.

Al Ahly, meanwhile, have only actually played one pre-season match this summer, which proved to be a 2-1 defeat to CE Europa on August 14.

This match will represent the team's second and final friendly before their 2026-27 Egyptian Premier League campaign starts against Enppi on August 23.

The Red Devils have won the Egyptian Premier League on 45 occasions, which is 30 more than any other side, showing their dominance at this level throughout history.

However, Al Ahly, who are now under the management of Hussein Ammouta, finished third last term.

Barcelona won last season's Joan Gamper Trophy match 5-0 against Como, and the Catalan outfit have not lost in this particular competition since a 1-0 reverse to Sampdoria in 2012.

Barcelona pre-season form:

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Al Ahly pre-season form:

Team News

Barcelona are without the services of Frenkie de Jong and Roony Bardghji through injury, but the Catalan outfit are otherwise in strong shape, with the likes of Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Dani Olmo back in the fold after helping Spain to win the 2026 World Cup.

Raphinha is expected to again start through the middle, while there could be another spot down the left for summer arrival Gordon.

Hamza Abdelkarim has been a standout player for Barcelona in pre-season, scoring three times, and the 18-year-old should be given more minutes during the match.

There may also be a return to the starting XI for Jules Kounde, who has been linked with a move away from Barcelona of late.

As for Al Ahly, Youssef Belammari and Ibrahim El Asyuti are out of the clash through injury.

Head coach Ammouta will make wholesale changes throughout the match in order to prepare for the new season, but there should be spots in the starting side for Hussein El Shahat and Mounsef Bakrar.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

J Garcia; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martin, Balde; Bernal, Espart; Gordon, Olmo, Yamal; Raphinha

Al Ahly possible starting lineup:

Shobeir; Hany, Ibrahim, Reyad, Mohamed; Ateya, Kouka, Ashour; Zizo, Bakrar, El Shahat

We say: Barcelona 3-1 Al Ahly

Al Ahly are capable of making this a tough match for Barcelona, but we are finding it incredibly difficult to back against Flick's team considering their quality.