Barcelona Cancels Friendly Against Preston Amid Player Shortage

Barcelona has decided to cancel the friendly match that was scheduled against Preston North End as part of the team's preparation program during their training camp in England, due to the circumstances affecting the English club.

The match was scheduled to take place on Monday behind closed doors at 3 PM, serving as the last friendly test for the Catalan team before concluding their training camp. However, recent developments led the management of both clubs to decide against proceeding with the match.

According to the report, Preston North End is suffering from a significant shortage of available players due to injuries affecting the squad, which would force them to field a large number of Under-21 players.

Barcelona's coaching staff, led by German manager Hans Flick, determined that the match would not provide the desired technical benefit under the current circumstances, leading to the decision to cancel it and replace it with a training session as part of the team's preparation program.

Barcelona is continuing its preparations for the new season after playing two friendly matches during its English camp against Europa FC and Birmingham City, before the cancellation of the match that was set to take place against Preston.

The team is set to resume its friendly matches on August 8, participating in a three-team friendly tournament where it will face Nottingham Forest and Udinese, as part of the final preparations before the new season kicks off.