As gaps in the team develop, the youthful winger has showed signs that he could resuscitate his Barca career after rounding into shape at the conclusion of last season.

To end their preseason tour in the United States, Barcelona defeated AC Milan 1-0 thanks to a goal from Ansu Fati, who also looked dangerous in the first 45 minutes. The winger’s twisting goal blew open an otherwise tight match and gave hope that the player, who was long seen to be a Camp Nou liability, would still be useful to this squad.

Jules Kounde’s effort hit the post as the two teams traded chances early on, then Fikayo Tomori sent a free header over the crossbar. In the waning seconds of the first half, Milan’s Rafael Leao came the closest, eluding three defenders before Inaki Pena stopped his close-range attempt.

Things changed after Fati’s debut at halftime. Shortly after the halftime, he scored the game’s first goal by cutting onto his right foot and firing a beautiful curling attempt into the top corner. Mike Maignan could only watch as the ball entered the goal. The winger had another opportunity to make it two, but a last-ditch slide challenge after a risky run by Alejandro Balde prevented him from scoring.

Although Barca boss Xavi probably would have like to see his squad defeat Milan — they missed a couple more opportunities in the dying seconds — this was yet another encouraging outing for a team attempting to retain its La Liga championship. And if Fati keeps shining, they might be able to replace Ousmane Dembele immediately without having to invest a dime.

GOAL examines what we discovered from the match at Allegiant Stadium.

Ansu shines as Dembele watches on

Despite the controversy surrounding a potential summer exit, Fati enjoyed a rather successful run towards the end of last season. He finished the campaign with seven league goals, and chipped in with three assists while serving as a regular as an injury-limited Barcelona stumbled through their last few games.

He hasn’t quite picked up on that form this pre-season, often starved of opportunities as Xavi continues to rotate his options. But he was given a whole half to work with here, and showed why he should be kept around. His goal was the kind of Messi-esque strike that had made Barca fans fall in love with him in the first place, a drop of the shoulder and inch-perfect finish past a frozen goalkeeper.

It was noticeable that he headed over to the bench to hug Dembele, who was watching on having been left out of the squad as he closes in on a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. Fati may play on the opposite wing to Dembele on most occasions, but the 20-year-old is versatile and could yet step into the France international’s shoes.

Fati could have made it two, but was denied by a last-ditch tackle. Still, his impact was made. This could quite easily be another false dawn in a year marked by them. But there was enough zip, quality and swagger about his showing to suggest that there might be something more long-term at play

 

Raphinha stakes his claim to take Dembele’s role too

Raphinha will presumably believe that Dembele should lose the vacant right-side berth despite Fati’s performance. The Brazilian definitely demonstrated enough to suggest that he can step in toward the conclusion of the last campaign, forging strong ties with Robert Lewandowski as Barca battled for the championship.

Additionally, he behaved properly in this situation. He played high and wide, cut to his dangerous left foot, and made good connections with a significantly altered Barcelona team. Ironically, the performance had a Dembele-like feel to it.

Raphinha occasionally rushed things or missed a pass, which led to some less favorable situations. He isn’t always the most effective player, which has in the past infuriated his teammates. Still, Barcelona can’t really gripe if Raphinha is the backup plan.

 

Alejandro Balde sprints… a lot

Alejandro Balde is very quick. That much is known by now. And he spent much of his 45 minutes on the pitch trying to prove it. The left-back repeatedly scampered up the left side of the pitch, torching multiple Milan defenders at a time. They were the kind of surges that Barcelona fans have seen him make for a while now.

But when he got into the final third, things were mixed. He certainly has a good understanding with Fati — it was him who fed his international team-mate for Barca’s goal — but his final delivery is still a bit erratic. Balde tends to ping the ball into space, rather than seek out a target. He puts his crosses into the right areas, without considering who might actually be there to meet them.

Xavi likely won’t care. This is a 19-year-old more than capable of holding down a spot for the Spanish champions; a player who effectively kicked club legend Jordi Alba out of the side by last January. That he was quite comfortably one of the most dangerous players on the pitch here is even more encouraging. And once that final ball develops — if he figures it out — Balde could be a real attacking weapon

 

Pulisic continues to impress

Christian Pulisic needed to get out of Chelsea. Opportunities had dried up for the United States forward, who never really seemed to settle at Stamford Bridge. And his new start in Milan has already shown some promise. He was influential in the Italian giants’ pre-season clash with Real Madrid two weeks ago, and enjoyed some good moments against another Spanish side here.

His pace and trickery caused problems on the right, and he served as a constant outlet on the counter. But there were also some good defensive moments to be found. He dropped back to help veteran right-back Alessandro Florenzi against a swarming Barca attack, and put in a few crucial tackles inside his own 18-yard box to ensure parity at the break.

Pulisic’s attacking impact wavered in the second half as Milan were pushed back into their own half, but this was a showing of promise from a player who deserves a chance to see his career reborn.

Ferran Torres fails to convince

Ferran Torres has sneakily enjoyed a solid pre-season, scoring in both of Barca’s previous fixtures on their U.S. tour, and the standard stories have since come out. We are told that Torres is training harder than ever. We are certain, in fact, that he wants to push Lewandowski all the way for the Blaugrana’s starting centre-forward spot. It is 100 percent true that this will be his best season yet…

These things are, of course, unrealistic. Torres could do with putting three good performances together before lofty speak about starring roles begins. And after two solid performances, he fell short here.

Starting through the middle, Torres never really seemed to hold down the position, and instead floated awkwardly, often into the wrong areas, and seldom touched the ball. He was ultimately anonymous, and unthreatening for the Milan defence. And, predictably, Lewandowski was far more impactful when he entered the contest.

 

Barca’s kids have a go

At this point, Xavi probably has a clear idea of who will be in his line-up when Barca open La Liga play in 10 days’ time. For now, then, it’s about filling the squad out, and some La Masia products got their chance to impress the manager on Tuesday. Fermin Lopez was handed a start, just three days after his 20-yard strike sealed a 3-1 win over Real Madrid. Ez Abde also played the first 45 minutes, and was a bright outlet. Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s youngest first-team player ever, turned in a solid cameo of his own — though he is still physically outmatched at this level.

The manager has never been shy about giving youth a try. Some of Barca’s best players last year were La Masia products who Xavi had pushed into the first team. Lopez, Yamal and Abde might find it harder to break into the side; this is a far more established Barcelona than the one Xavi took charge of nearly two years ago. Still, they were given a chance, and might just have done enough to stick around for the next nine months.