Barcelona and Juventus in discussions to arrange a friendly match in December

With the FIFA World Cup 2022 set to start in a few days, club football across the globe has come to a halt. Barcelona went into the month-long break as the leaders of La Liga, following their comeback win against CA Osasuna.

The Catalans will resume their pursuit of the La Liga title on December 31 when they take on local rivals RCD Espanyol. And they will be intent on hitting the ground running for the second half of the campaign so that they can keep their noses ahead of Real Madrid in the title race.

Considering the long break, manager Xavi is planning a sort of a mini pre-season in the month of December so that the players can be at their sharpest for the resumption of the campaign.

And in order to do that, Barcelona are hoping to arrange a friendly encounter with Serie A heavyweights Juventus, reports SPORT.

The Blaugrana are already in talks over a friendly match against Premier League leaders Arsenal which could take place in London on December 17.

Now, Barcelona and Juventus are studying the possibility of a friendly soon after that, with December 22 being mentioned as the tentative date for the encounter in the report. In case the plans come to fruition, the match would be played at the Allianz Stadium in Turin.

Barça played Juventus in a friendly in the summer while on tour in the United States, with the game ending in a 2-2 draw.

After a poor start to the campaign, the Bianconeri were starting to hit their strides ahead of the World Cup break. Given the quality of players at their disposal, Juventus can be a good test for Barcelona and help Xavi & co. get back in rhythm for the second half of the season.

Barça have as many as 16 first-team players at the World Cup and the stars who have not travelled to Qatar will reconvene for training on December 5 after a brief vacation.