Denis Suárez and nine from FC Barcelona B make first team debuts

The first of the new signings for the 2016/17 season, Denis Suárez, made his debut for Barça against Glasgow Celtic in Dublin in the first game of the preseason. He was joined in the starting line-up by fellow debutant José Antonio Martínez of Barça B.

And Suárez made a fine impression in his maiden outing, playing on the right hand side of midfield and wearing the number 6 on his back alongside Sergi Roberto and Arda Turan, with whom he quickly established a solid understanding. He played a little further up the field in the second half, and came close to getting his first goal in his new shirt after 57 minutes, but Celtic stopper Gordon got the better of his powerful strike. Denis Suárez ended his game, having seen 84% of his 46 passes find their man, when he was substituted by Jesús Alfaro after 61 minutes.

José Antonio Martínez, the other new face in the starting line-up and who played an unfortunate role in the Celtic equaliser, eight more youth players made their debuts on Saturday, namely Marlon, Rafa Mujica, Àlex Carbonell, Jesús Alfaro, Carles Aleñà (all after 61 minutes), Borja, Nil and goalkeeper José Aurelio Suárez (after 77)

The only first team players on the pitch by the end of the 90 minutes were Samper, who was playing his first game as a fully-fledged member of the first team squad, and Aleix Vidal, the only man who got a full game.

The other Barça B players that have travelled north, Juan Cámara and Gerard Gumbau, both have first team experience from last season. Cámara, who played left back and was rewarded with the MVP award, played in the Champions League last term against Bayer Leverkusen and Gumbau got his chance in a Liga fixture against Levante.