"Ship him off to Saudi," "MLS material" - Barcelona fans destroy 2 players following 5-3 Arsenal defeat

Barcelona fans have criticized Ferran Torres and Sergino Dest after the club's match against Arsenal.

Barcelona fans on Twitter have slammed forward Ferran Torres and defender Sergino Dest following the team's preseason friendly against Arsenal.

The Catalans took on the Gunners on Wednesday, July 26, at the So-Fi Stadium in Los Angeles. This was the Spanish giants' first preseason match, while last season's Premier League runners-up were playing in their fourth such contest.

The differences in their fitness levels showed as Arsenal romped to a 5-3 victory despite being 1-0 and 2-1 down in the first half. Mikel Arteta's side had multiple star performers, while quite a few of Barcelona's first-team stars disappointed.

Among those was Dest, who invoked the wrath of the Blaugrana's Twitter fanbase after a forgettable display. One fan tweeted about him:

"Bro is MLS (Major League Soccer) material"

A fan criticizes Sergino Dest on Twitter.

Another wrote about the USA international:

"Ship him off to Saudi (sic)"

Meanwhile, in response to Torres defiantly claiming that he will stay at the Spotify Camp Nou after the game, a fan tweeted:

"No you’ll leave, you fraudster"

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Here are some more reactions from fans:

A fan criticizes Ferran Torres on Twitter.

A fan explains why Torres needs to depart Barcelona on Twitter.

A Twitter post outlining Sergino Dest's first-half stats against Arsenal.

Dest started for Barcelona in defense on Wednesday alongside Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Marcos Alonso. While none of them really covered themselves in glory, the American was particularly poor.

He completed just four of his seven passes, was dribbled past twice, lost possession four times and won none of his three ground duels. Dest was replaced by Sergi Roberto at half-time.

Torres, meanwhile, came on at half-time for Robert Lewandowski. He had a decent outing, completing 11 of his 12 passes and even scoring in the 88th minute to make it 4-3. However, following a disappointing 2022-23 season, many fans want him gone and his statement after the match didn't seem to go down well with them.

Both Dest and Torres are expected to be sold by the Catalans if they receive an offer they deem good enough.

Barcelona and Arsenal play out thriller with plenty of goalmouth action

Barcelona took an early lead against Arsenal at the So-Fi Stadium. A splendid run by Abde Ezzalzouli saw him set up Raphinha, whose shot was saved well by Aaron Ramsdale. However, Robert Lewandowski put in the rebound to put his side ahead after seven minutes.

Bukayo Saka equalized for the Gunners just six minutes later following an error from Andreas Christensen. He then received a golden opportunity to put his side ahead, but sent his penalty wide of the post in the 22nd minute.

Just 12 minutes later, Raphinha put Barcelona back in front with a deflected free-kick. However, Kai Havertz leveled things up for Arsenal with a close-range volley.

Mikel Arteta's side took the lead for the first time in the 55th minute through Leandro Trossard's arrowed strike into the bottom corner. Trossard scored again 23 minutes later, this time expertly volleying home Kieran Tierney's cross.

Either side of the Belgian's second goal, Ousmane Dembele and Alejandro Balde hit the woodwork for Barcelona. Dembele then set up Ferran Torres to make it 4-3, but Fabio Vieira's brilliant long-range strike in the 90th minute sealed the win for Arsenal.

Edited by Anantaajith Raghuraman