Barcelona edged out Egyptian visitors Al Ahly 2-1 in an official friendly at the Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday, with the two sides meeting in the Joan Gamper Trophy.
A big crowd watched a tight tactical battle between the Spanish and African champions. The Blaugrana struck twice in the first half before Al Ahly pulled one back early after the break.
A distinctly Catalan half: Hamza leaves his mark and Raphinha confirms it
The Red Devils came out swinging. Al Ahly bared their teeth in the 13th minute, pressing high and hard on the Barcelona defence to disrupt the build-up from the back and strangle Catalan possession early.
Hansi Flick's experienced squad answered quickly. The Blaugrana absorbed the enthusiasm and dismantled the Egyptian press with ease, slowing the tempo and moving the ball intelligently in search of space.
Determined to impose their usual style and control the game, Barcelona were involved in the opening physical clashes when Eric Garcia stopped the run of star man Achraf Bencharki with a tactical challenge.
Barcelona's first sight of goal came from a deceptive Fermin Lopez pass that exploited a Mostafa Shobier error off his line, only for Mohamed Hany to clear. A genuine chance then fell to Raphinha inside the box, but Amr El-Gazzar headed his shot behind for a corner before the Brazilian dragged a long-range effort past the post.
The threat kept coming. Shobier saved a clear chance from young striker Hamza Abdelkarim, while an Al Ahly counter came to nothing after Ahmed Sayed Zizo strayed offside.
The opener arrived in the 30th minute. A superb exchange between Alejandro Balde and Raphinha ended with a precise pass that freed the full-back, whose perfect cross Hamza Abdelkarim tapped into the net with ease. The young forward declined to celebrate out of respect for his former club.
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Barcelona almost doubled their lead through a string of chances. It began with another Shobier error that Lamine Yamal seized on, followed by a Fermin shot, before Karim Fouad cleared an Espart effort off the line.
Raphinha made it two in the 45th minute, a superb strike that beat Shobier to send Barcelona in 2-0 up at the break.
A red uprising: Zizo scores and El-Shenawy saves Al Ahly
Barcelona started the second half strongly and nearly added a third, pouncing on a glaring error from substitute keeper Mohamed El-Shenawy.
Al Ahly hit back at once. Ahmed Sayed Zizo scored in the 51st minute on his side's first real attack, threading through the Barcelona defence with a magical pass before slotting home to make it 2-1.
That goal handed the Red Devils a huge lift. They began to hold the ball and build attacks, and substitute Mohamed Magdy Afsha thought he had the equaliser in the 60th minute, only for the referee to flag him offside.
Barcelona pushed forward again in the 67th minute, but El-Shenawy shone to snuff out a dangerous move and preserve the one-goal margin.
Controversy flared in the 70th minute. Koka went down inside the Barcelona box and Al Ahly screamed for a penalty, but the referee waved play on.
El-Shenawy struck again in the 78th minute, diving smartly on the ball ahead of a one-on-one Barcelona striker to deny a certain goal and keep it 2-1.
Two minutes later, Al Ahly spurned their best chance to level. Substitute Karim Adeyemi controlled the ball superbly inside the box and unleashed a powerful shot, but it flew straight at the Barcelona keeper, wasting a late equaliser.
The finish caught fire. In the 89th minute the referee pointed to the spot for Barcelona amid furious Al Ahly protests, the Blaugrana still 2-1 ahead.
Up stepped substitute Gordon in the 90th minute. El-Shenawy shone once more, saving with superb skill to deny Barcelona a killer third and keep the Red Devils' hopes alive to the last, leaving the final score 2-1 to Barcelona.