Barcelona preseason opener against Juventus canceled due to viral infection in Barça squad

Barcelona’s preseason opener against Juventus, scheduled for this evening in Santa Clara, California, has been officially canceled due to a viral stomach bug that has impacted nearly half of the Blaugrana’s playing squad, the club announced on Saturday.

Here is the announcement from the club’s website:

FC Barcelona hereby informs that the game against Juventus FC, scheduled for today, July 22 at 7:30 pm local time (4.30am Sunday CEST) at Levi’s Stadium, as part of the Soccer Champions Tour, has been canceled. A significant part of the blaugrana squad has a viral gastroenteritis.

Source: FC Barcelona

According to reports out of Barça’s camp the infection has hit at least 12 players, but manager Xavi Hernández and his staff have not been impacted yet. The infection isn’t serious and players are expected to make a full recovery.

There was initial hope of rescheduling the match for Sunday evening but the players will need 48 hours to fully recover, so there is very little chance that Barça and Juventus will meet in this preseason with two packed schedules for both clubs in the next couple of weeks.

Barça’s next friendly is against Arsenal on Wednesday July 26 in Los Angeles, and that match is still on as of now.