Virus forces Barca to cancel friendly in U.S.

Barcelona have announced that their friendly against Juventus, which was due to take place in California on Saturday, has been cancelled after several of their players became unwell.

The fixture was the first of four matches that Barcelona have scheduled on their preseason tour of the United States.

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They are still due to play Arsenal on July 27, Real Madrid on July 29 and AC Milan on Aug. 2.

“FC Barcelona hereby informs that the game against Juventus FC, scheduled for today, July 22 at 7:30 p.m at Levi’s Stadium, as part of the Soccer Champions Tour, has been canceled. A significant part of the blaugrana squad has a viral gastroenteritis,” the club said in a statement on Saturday.

Sources have told ESPN that 14 players in the Barca camp are suffering from illness and were unable to take part in the match against the Italian club.

Saturday’s game was due to be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara,, home of the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL.

Barca signed midfielder Oriol Romeu from Girona, the club announced on Wednesday, in a deal that sees midfielder Pablo Torre, 20, move in the other direction on a season-long loan.