Gundogan, Romeu react after Barcelona debut in defeat to Arsenal: “We can do better”

Barcelona’s pre-season tour of the United States of America has not been off to the best start. After seeing their first friendly match against Juventus get cancelled due to a stomach bug breakout in the squad, the Blaugrana fell to a 3-5 defeat to Arsenal last night in Los Angeles.

Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Ferran Torres got on the scoresheet for Barcelona while Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard (x2), and Fabio Vieira found the back of the net for the Gunners.

Despite the defeat, manager Xavi Hernandez drew a lot of positives from the match against Arsenal. Meanwhile, fans also got to watch two of the summer signings – Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu – in action for the team for the first time.

The midfield duo had an okay performance on the night in LA, considering it was their first match with their new teammates.

And speaking after the match, Gundogan acknowledged as much, as he said (h/t SPORT): “I have to adapt to my teammates and they to me.”

“I know the position I have played in, but everything is new. I have to adapt to my teammates and they have to adapt to me. We have to get to know the automatisms,” the former Manchester City captain added.

Stressing that the Barcelona team have a particular way of operating, he said: “We have a very clear idea of the football we want to play. I think the most important thing now is to be patient. The structure is not 100 percent fixed. Everyone knows where we want to go.”

Gundogan went on to admit that the feeling of making his debut for Barcelona was ‘very special’ but insisted that there is much room for improvement moving forward.

“I’m very happy. Obviously, we could have played better, but I think we competed against a great opponent. We can do better, we made some unforced errors, but it was the first friendly of the pre-season,” he stated.

Oriol Romeu wants Barça to step up for El Clasico

Apart from Gundogan, another new arrival, Romeu, also featured for Barcelona against Arsenal on Wednesday night and played the first 45 minutes of the game. Looking back at his debut for the club, the 31-year-old said (h/t SPORT):

“There were some good things and some things to improve, but I’m happy to have played 45 minutes, to be able to get into a rhythm and get a good feeling, to get to know my teammates and start to get the idea of the coach, to play together and get the ball out.

“We’re working on it, although there are things that I want to take a step forward and that I’ll gradually pick up.”

Romeu has opted for the #18 jersey for pre-season, not choosing to take the #5 that was vacated by his predecessor Sergio Busquets. Explaining his decision, the midfielder said:

“I have never worn No. 5. Last year I wore 18 and it gave me a good feeling. I’m not too fussy about numbers either. Whether I wear 18 or 5, it doesn’t matter. It hasn’t affected me that it’s Busi’s number.”

Much like Xavi, Romeu also stressed on Arsenal’s greater preparedness for the game as the difference on the night, with the Gunners having already played quite a few friendly matches.

“When a team has been preparing for more games you can see it, especially in the final minutes. The first half was intense, because they were coming on man-to-man and it caused us a lot of turnovers,” he said.

On what Barcelona got out of this match, Romeu explained: “It’s a pre-season game and that’s what you get. These games are good for getting into rhythm, shape and feeling and that’s what we got out of today.”

Looking forward to facing Real Madrid in the next game, he said: “We have an important game coming up and the fans will want us to put our best foot forward and I’m sure we’ll have to step up to compete as well as possible.

“We all want to win and compete and we are the first ones who will try to put in a good performance.”

Talking about playing in a 4-3-3 or with a possible formation involving four central midfielders, Romeu said: “Playing with three or four midfielders will depend on the opponent and the circumstances.

“We always look for a structure that gives us superiority inside to create more threat for our opponents. Sometimes it will be an inside midfielder coming into the middle or me going wide.”

Like Gundogan, Romeu also insisted that there were some aspects of the team that he still needed to adapt to, saying:

“The pace of play, the intensity is different to Girona. We have to look for solutions from the back and be dominant to hurt the opposition, which is something that goes unnoticed in other clubs.

“In the first half, we struggled to find the free player and get the ball out. As the games go by, we will gain confidence.”