Barcelona vs Al Ahly Prediction 19 August 2026

Barcelona are wrapping up their pre-season preparations - the La Liga campaign starts for them this weekend. The team spent most of the summer without their key players - Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Dani Olmo and others who were at the World Cup. They will likely get some minutes, though, as it would be difficult to bring first-team players straight into competitive football cold.

Barcelona won three of their five pre-season matches. They also took part in another pre-season tournament - in a reduced format in Udine. Perhaps the most telling result was the match against Basel (5:2) at the end of last week. First, Raphinha, Yamal, Olmo, Cubarsí and Koundé returned to the squad; second, the club finally got a look at their expensive new signing Gordon in action; third, they completely outplayed the Swiss side in possession (71%), shots on goal (24 vs 6), corners (8 vs 1) and dangerous attacks (71 vs 24). In other words, fears that the Catalans would not be ready in time for competitive matches turned out to be unfounded.

There is, of course, less information available about Al-Ahly. Egypt's best team had a less eventful summer, beating only their neighbours Al-Nasr (5:1). Nevertheless, the Cairo side will look to make the most of the chance to play against a top club. After all, they already managed to go toe-to-toe with Porto (4:4) at the Club World Cup last summer.

Yes, the tournament in Barcelona is slightly less significant, but that removes any pressure. There is no point in the visitors sitting back for all 90 minutes - it is important to stay compact so as not to concede too many, but set pieces and counter-attacks are still very much on the table. Al-Ahly scored in 6 of their 7 matches in spring, which is a decent foundation.