Sampdoria gave a more than decent account of themselves in a 3-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Gamper Trophy.
The Blucerchiati were invited to Camp Nou for the traditional pre-season test to mark the anniversary of their European Cup Final clash at Wembley in 1992.
Leo Messi and his new bleached hairstyle were the stars of the show, as his spectacular overhead kick assist for a Luis Suarez header immediately went viral.
Messi then added the next goal himself by running on to an Ivan Rakitic through ball and waltzing round Emiliano Viviano.
Sampdoria gave a more than decent account of themselves in a 3-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Gamper Trophy.
The Blucerchiati were invited to Camp Nou for the traditional pre-season test to mark the anniversary of their European Cup Final clash at Wembley in 1992.
Leo Messi and his new bleached hairstyle were the stars of the show, as his spectacular overhead kick assist for a Luis Suarez header immediately went viral.
Messi then added the next goal himself by running on to an Ivan Rakitic through ball and waltzing round Emiliano Viviano.
Samp were no sacrificial lambs and got back into the game with Luis Muriel, making the most of a rare Andres Iniesta error and Fabio Quagliarella assist.
Messi completed his brace with a trademark curling free kick that left Viviano no chance.
The Blucerchiati weren’t finished yet and got another goal back with summer signing Ante Budimir’s smart chest and strike.
Barcelona 3-2 Sampdoria
Luis Suarez 16 (B), Messi 21, 34 (B), Muriel 23 (S), Budimir 77 (S)
Barcelona: Bravo (Masip 31) (Ter Stegen 61); Sergi Roberto (Aleix Vidal 46), Mathieu (Mascherano 31), Piqué (Umtiti 60), Digne (Camara 62); Busquets, Iniesta (Denis Suarez 61), Rakitic (Andre Gomes 60); Messi (Munir 76), Luis Suarez, Arda Turan
Sampdoria: Viviano (Puggioni 77); De Silvestri (Pereira 72), Silvestre, Castan (Skriniar 46), Regini; Eramo (Barreto 46), Torreira (Palombo 34) (Ivan 82), Linetty (Cigarini 71); Schick (Alvarez 46); Muriel (Budimir 46), Quagliarella (Djuricic 71)