LaLiga Genuine 2022/23 started this weekend in Tarragona, where the 44 competing teams gathered at the Football Salou Sports Center. When it comes to sport, the Barça Foundation’s début was not as successful as last season, when the team finished undefeated in the "Companionship" Team-spirit group. The fact is that the physical and sporting demands of the Sportsmanship group assigned by LaLiga Genuine this year are much tougher than those encountered by the Blaugrana players last year. Even so, the Barça Foundation has not given up on their goal of being an inclusive and equitable team above all.
On Saturday morning, in the opening match of the competition against Valencia, there was no doubt as to the difficulty of the Sportsmanship group and victory smiled on the Valencians by 1-3. In the afternoon, Barça Foundation beat Almeria 0-2 in a very intense match. Finally, today, Sunday at noon, they lost to Leganés by a tight 2-1.
Pitch events aside, the men and women of the Barça Foundation this weekend once again enjoyed an emotive experience and shared some great moments together. One such moment was shared with Real Madrid, who play in LaLiga Genuine for the first time this season, with a photo of the two squads together where it's clear that integration is far more important than rivalry.
Statements by Josep Ferré, coach for the Barça Foundation team
"It is clear that the criteria for selecting squads for the Sportsmanship group are not the same as ours. As per last season, our focus was on diversity. But, beyond what other teams do, we concentrate on our work and see this extra difficulty as a challenge. So we are very satisfied and even positively surprised at how our players faced this challenge. In the three games we played in the first phase of LaLiga Genuine, our game enabled us to face a series of more difficult situations than those experienced last season. We need more continuity, but we are happy enough".
