Mikel Arteta reveals reason for Declan Rice's absence in Arsenal's pre-season friendly against Barcelona

Mikel Arteta has given his explanation for Declan Rice's absence in Arsenal's 5-3 pre-season friendly win against Barcelona.

Rice arrived at the Emirates from West Ham United earlier this month for a club-record fee of £105 million. He came on as a substitute in his team's 5-0 win against MLS All-Stars on 20 July before starting in the 2-0 loss against Manchester United three days later.

Arsenal travelled to the SoFi Stadium in California to finish their pre-season tour of the USA. Rice, however, was omitted from the matchday squad, leading fans to worry that he had picked up a fitness problem.

Arteta has since confirmed that Rice did pick up a knock in training, leading to his omission from the team to face Barcelona. The former Manchester City assistant manager told reporters, via Metro:

"Dec had quite a strong kick in training and didn’t want to take the risk, he wasn’t comfortable to train yesterday and today, and we decided not to play him."

It remains to be seen if Rice is fit in time to face AS Monaco in the Emirates Cup final on 2 August when Arsenal return to north London. Four days later, they will face Manchester City in the FA Community Shield at Wembley.

Rice, 24, is expected to be a regular starter in Arteta's midfield, which has lost Granit Xhaka this summer.

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Xavi comments on the intensity in Arsenal's win over Barcelona

Xavi Hernandez has commented that Arsenal's 5-3 win against Barcelona earlier today (27 July) felt more like a UEFA Champions League tie than a pre-season friendly.

Bukayo Saka's 13th-minute goal canceled out Robert Lewandowski's early opener before Raphinha scored around the half-hour mark to put his team in front. Kai Havertz scored two minutes before the half-time whistle to level the scoreline.

A second-half Leandro Trossard brace put Arsenal two goals up before Ferran Torres and Fabio Vieira scored a goal each late in the game to wrap up the scoreline. After the goal-crazy tie at the SoFi Stadium, Xavi said, via the Guardian:

"I said to Mikel at the end of the game, it was like a Champions League tie with the intensity they put in. It was not normal for a friendly, but I understand everyone wants to win."

This was Barcelona's first match since they beat Vissel Kobe 2-0 in a friendly on 6 June. The game against Arsenal saw four yellow cards being dished out - all in the second quarter of the game.

Arteta saw three of his players booked while Ronald Araujo was the only Barcelona player to have his name taken by the referee.