Rey Manaj's Hat-trick In Barcelona Vs. Gimnàstic Doesn't Guarantee His Position In The Senior Team

JAKARTA - Barcelona kicked off their pre-season campaign last night, Wednesday, 21 July, facing Gimnastic at the Estadio Johan Cruyff in Catalunya. In this match, the Blaugarana won 4-0.

In this match, Ronald Koeman fielded a line of young players because the majority of his first-team members had not returned to full training. Nevertheless, there are still names such as Sergino Dest, Gerard Pique, and Sergi Roberto in the squad.

It was Rey Manaj who put the Blaugrana ahead when the game lasted for an hour. The 24-year-old Barcelona B player from Albania fired a shot that the opposing goalkeeper couldn't block.

Barcelona dominates possession. But that wasn't too surprising considering Gimnastic was down to ten men in the 38th minute after Alex Quintanilla Urionabarrenetxea was sent off.

Alex Collado doubled Barcelona's lead heading into the final five minutes. The promising youngster's effort bounced and swerved past Gimnastic's goalkeeper.

Towards the end of the match, Manaj appeared again in the 86th and 90th minutes to complete his hat-trick. Manaj's stellar performance put him in the heads of all Barcelona fans – at least last night.

The reason is, to be able to penetrate the main squad is still too heavy for this young man. In addition to Barca's front line, next season will be filled with the deadly trio of Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, and Memphis Depay. There are also Osumane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Martin Braithwaite, and Ansu Fati who will block.