Barcelona fans may not have been too pleased with their draw against Olot but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's sublime goal certainly gave them reason to smile.
Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen garnered a lot of praise as well for his brilliantly executed pass. Ter Stegen booted a long, accurate ball from his box over Olot's defense, which Aubameyang charged down to receive.
Reaching the ball in stride, the Gabon international splendidly volleyed the ball beyond the reach of the Olot goalkeeper who had come off his line. It may have merely been a pre-season goal, but it certainly shows that the Barcelona stars are linking well on the counter.
Taking to Twitter to express their excitement, the Camp Nou faithful were quick to shower praise on Ter Stegen and Aubameyang for their sublime effort to open the scoring. Some were also quick to note that the goalkeeper had the same number of assists as Cristiano Ronaldo in 2022. Here is a selection of their tweets:
Barcelona fail to make possession count in pre-season friendly
Despite Aubameyang's lovely strike to give his team the lead, Barca failed to win and had to settle for a draw instead. While Olot struggled to hold the ball or keep possession, the Blaugrana spent the bulk of the game in the opposition's half, with the lion's share of the possession.
However, Barcelona could not put their consistent overloads to much use. Even with 21 shots at goal, they seemed unable to break down a tight Olot defense that seemed prepared to stop the European giants.
On the cusp of half-time, a tackle from Mika Marmol handed Olot the chance to score an equalizer. Club captain Eloi Amagat stepped up and converted the spotkick, effectively taking away the win from a Barca side that failed to score again.
Olot notably came close to pulling an upset with two chances at goal near the end, but key saves from Barcelona keeper Inaki Pena saved the game.