First scorers in preseasons past

The Estadi Johan Cruyff is the venue for Barça's first preseason friendly of 2021/22 against Gimnàstic Tarragona (July 21 at 7.00pm CEST). 

It's a repeat of the first preseason game of 2020, when Barça beat Nàstic 3-1 at the same venue. The opening goal of the game, and hence of the season, was converted by Ousmane Dembélé.

Previous openers

So who has had the honour of netting Barça's first goal back after the summer break in previous years? Let's take a look and see... Curiously, in the last decade they have all been different players, and other than Dembéle, none of them are in the current squad.

2020 (Estadi Johan Cruyff, 3-1 v Gimnàstic Tarragona): Ousmane Dembélé

2019 (Saitama, Japan, 1-1 v Chelsea): Ivan Rakitic

2018 (Pasadena, USA, 2-2 v Tottenham): Munir El Haddadi

2017 (East Rutherford, USA, 2-1 v Juventus): Neymar Jr

2016 (Dublin, Ireland, 3-1 v Celtic): Arda Turan

2015 (Pasadena, USA, 2-1 v LA Galaxy): Luis Suárez

2014 (Huelva, 1-0 v Recreativo): Joan Román

2013 (Oslo, Norway, 7-0 v Vålerenga): Alexis Sánchez

2012 (Hamburg, Germany, 2-1 v SV Hamburg): Dani Alves

2011 (Munich, Germany, 2-2 v Internacional): Thiago Alcántara