FC Barcelona Cadets will be facing some of the best U-15 teams in the world at the prestigious Manchester Premier Cup, a competition Barça have won twice before, with winning goals from Andres Iniesta in 1999 and Marc Muniesa in 2007.

The competition gets under way on August 3 and will be the highlight of the preseason preparations for the Barça youth team.

Víctor Sánchez, who previously coached the B side, will be taking 16 players, none of which are the new signings for the coming season.

In fact, the manager of this and the other youth teams have yet to be confirmed and will be announced during the next few weeks.

Eighteen quality opponents

The teams that have qualified for the Premier Cup have come through some tough preliminary matches. There was a first phase played on a regional basis, and then national qualification games. The tournament gives some of the less glamorous sides the chance to test themselves against the best on the world, although the presence in the tournament does not depend on name or prestige, but purely on the performances in the qualifiers.

Most of the 19 participants are European (8), but there are also sides from Asia (5), America (4) and Africa and Oceania (1). The big names include Werder Bremen of Germany, PSG of France, Internacional of Brazil, Newcastle and Manchester United of England, Ulsan Yundai of Korea and Akosombo of Ghana.

Previous wins

Barça have won two former editions of the Premier Cup. In 1999, the club’s centenary year, the final was played in the Camp Nou. Andrés Iniesta scored a golden goal to beat Rosario and impressed everybody, including Guardiola.

In 2007, at Old Trafford, Marc Muniesa scored the winner in the final against Sao Paulo and was also chosen as the MVP. Víctor Sánchez was the coach of the side that day, and many from that team are now making their names in Spain’s youth teams and in the Barça B team like Sergi Roberto, Sergi Gómez, Marc Muniesa, Albert Dalmau, Adria Carmona, Javier Espinosa.

All the participating clubs:

Manchester United and Newcastle (England)
Werder Bremen (Germany)
Oporto (Portugal)
PSG (France)
Torino (Italy)
Bucanspor (Turkey)
Alta Loma Arsenal (USA)
Pachuca (Mexico)
Colo-Colo (Chile)
Internacional (Brazil)
Shillong Lajung (India)
Kyoto Sanga (Japan)
Changchun Yatai (China)
Ulsan Yundai (Korea)
MSS Kedah (Malaysia)
Akosombo (Ghana)
Sutherland Sharks (Australia)

source: fcbarcelona.cat