Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of friendly between Barcelona and Chapecoense at Camp Nou. The two sides are battling it out for the Joan Gamper Trophy - an annual competition that stretches back more than 50 years, with this year's edition particularly sombre due to the horrific event that took place last December when almost the entire of Chape's squad perished.

Just six of the 77 passengers on board the flight headed for Medellin survived - one of those, Alan Ruschel, is due to play some part this evening on his return to the field. Chape have slowly started to rebuild thanks to the arrival of a string of loanees from rival clubs and plenty of free transfers and, with half the Brazilian Serie A campaign played, they find themselves in 16th place.

Chape were offered a three-year immunity period from relegation, but they refused to accept and are doing well to remain in the division. They are now looking to become just the second foreign side to ever lift the Gamper Trophy, though the omens are good because the only other successful side also came from Brazil (more than that a little later). With that said, let us turn attention to some confirmed team news.

A very strong side named by Ernesto Valverde, then, in what is his first home game in charge of Barcelona since being appointed as Luis Enrique's successor earlier this summer. No real surprise, of course, as this is the Catalan giants' final friendly before meeting Real Madrid in a Spanish Super Cup double header over the next week or so. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi both start, while Gerard Deulofeu is named alongside them in the absence of Neymar.

Barca will almost certainly move to bring in a direct replacement for Neymar, having lost the Brazilian forward to Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record transfer last week. Philippe Coutinho appears to be the most likely option, though he is just one of a dozen star names to have been linked with a switch to Camp Nou in recent days. Either way, Valverde will not want to head into the La Liga season without a replacement.

Further back Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets line up in a three-man midfield, as Valverde sticks with the tried and tested 4-3-3 formation. Aleix Vidal and Jordi Alva occupy the fully-back berths, while Samuel Umtiti and Gerard Pique are named in the heart of defence. In goal is Marc-Andre ter Stegen, given the nod over Jasper Cillessen once again ahead of the new campaign.

Barcelona have only brought in one big-money signing so far this summer, recruiting Nelson Semedo from Benfica for a sum of £30.5m, and he is made to wait for his first start on home soil as he is only among the subs today. That is the case for Marlon Santos, too, having been recruited on a permanent basis during the off-season after impressing when given a chance late on in 2016-17.

Speaking of 2016-17, Barca just about salvaged their season by lifting the Copa del Rey in May. It was otherwise a disappointing final year for Enrique at Camp Nou, though, with the Catalans falling short in the Champions League - crashing out to Juventus after miraculously overcoming Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round - while also finishing second to Real Madrid in a tight La Liga title race.

Enrique took the decision to bow out in the wake of the heavy first-leg loss to PSG; one that looked a little abrupt when temporarily transforming his side's fortunes and guiding them to what looked like being another treble at one point. In the end, however, they had to settle for just the Copa del Rey - the accolade at the bottom of their wishlist at the start of the season, as will be the case this time around.

Enrique was a big success on the whole, though, as was his predecessor Pep Guardiola, so there will be pressure on Valverde to also bring in regular silverware. The former Athletic Bilbao boss spent time with Barca as a player between 1988 and 1990, winning the Copa del Rey and the Cup Winners' Cup, and he has since gone on to manage a string of Spanish clubs and Olympiacos in Greece across two spells.

Valverde's only major honour, if you can call it that, during his time at Bilbao was the Spanish Super Cupp in 2015, beating Barcelona across two legs to make a real statement. The 53-year-old also won three Greek Superleague crowns and a couple of Greek Cups across his two spells with Olympiacos, while also finishing as a runner-up in the UEFA Cup with Espanyol in 2007. It is a leap up in quality, but Valverde has done well on a lower level.

The new man in charge has already been given the chance to run the rule over his players on four occasions this summer, with his side picking up a few impressive results during their time in the United States. High profile friendlies against Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid ended in victory, before playing out a 1-1 draw with lower-league side Gimnastic on Friday.

Up next is Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup, beginning with the first leg next Sunday evening and then the return leg at the Bernabeu three days later. Bragging rights over Los Blancos is always welcome, though starting well in La Liga is the biggest priority, having fallen off the pace last term and allowed Madrid to march in front. Barca were left playing catch up and just could not shake off their great rivals.

Barcelona's league campaign begins with a meeting against Real Betis on August 20 in what is a friendly-looking start. Not until mid-October do they face their first real big test of the 2017-18 season when facing Atletico Madrid, who are expected to be there-or-thereabouts once again this time around. Starting well is vital for Valverde, particularly after seeing Madrid themselves strengthen with the arrivals of Dani Ceballos and Theo Hernandez.

How much of an impact those two Madrid arrivals will have remains to be seen, though there are strong suggestions that Kylian Mbappe is just a couple of weeks away from joining. Barca are themselves fighting the clock to bring in a marquee signing, which will ironically now be even tougher as rival sides will hold out for more knowing that the Catalans are sitting on a £200m Neymar-shaped windfall.

Nelson Semedo has come in at the back, Gerard Deulofeu has has rejoined from Everton and Marlon Santos has been promoted to the first-team ranks after impressing last term. This Barcelona squad looks far from the force of just a few years ago, meaning that Valverde could have his work cut out. Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu has vowed to put the £198 received from Neymar's sale right back into the club, so things should look a little better come the end of August.

The Chape team news has now come through, with confirmation that Alan Ruschel does indeed start. A quite remarkable story for him, having survived the horrific plane crash that took the lives of 71 others last year. It will be Ruschel's first run out since the incident and he is likely to be given a strong applause from the Camp Nou crowd. As already mentioned, this is a squad now made up almost exclusively by free transfers, loanees and youth-team players.

The Big Green, as they are nicknamed, are now managed by Vinicius Eutropio. The 51-year-old has plenty of experience, taking charge of the club two months after being sacked by Kalba in horrific circumstances, proving the ideal man to help bring some stability when it was much needed. In terms of Chape's history, they were promoted to the Brazilian Serie A for the first time in 1978, though they were soon relegated and did not return until 2014.

Chape's plane went down as it approached Jose Maria Cordova International Airport near Medellin in Colombia, as they set off for the first leg of their Copa Sudamericana final clash with Nacional. It was seen as being the biggest match in the club's history; a match that they ultimately never got the chance to play. A nice touch from Nacional, they urged the authorities to automatically award the trophy to their opponents.

All but six of the 77 people on board the plane died, three of those survivors being players. They now have 18 loanees in their small squad as they battle to avoid relegation from Serie A, which they are currently on course to achieve as they sit 16th in the table after 19 matches, three points above the dropzone. Chape have won six of their matches so far this term, two of which came in quick succession last month.

Eutropio's men are currently on another winless run, though, which currently stands at three matches. The second half of the season will be a real battle on the field, though of course much-needed context is required when taking into account the terrible scenes witnessed eight months ago. The Big Green return to league action on August 20 with a meeting against Palmeiras, before facing leaders Corinthians three days later.

Chapecoense will be wearing special shirts this evening, incidentally, featuring 71 stars on a white background to represent each of those who tragically died in the plane crash. It will be an emotional moments when the two sides emerge at Camp Nou, particularly for the aforementioned Alan Ruschel after not only surviving the crash but also returning to action less than a year on.

DID YOU KNOW? The Gamper Trophy is an annual match held every August before the start of the La Liga campaign, giving Barcelona a chance to run out in front of their home fans before the real business begins. It is named in honour of Joan Gamper, who was a founding member and former players of the club. It has been going since 1966, originally starting off as a four-team competition but then shortening to just the two from 1997 onwards due to the pre-season campaigns themselves getting shorter in length.

Barcelona have won each of the last four editions of the competition since going down 1-0 to Sampdoria in 2012, overcoming the same Italian opposition 12 months ago to keep their grip on the pre-season trophy. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez starred in that 3-1 victory, and the two will now be expected to carry even more weight heading into the 2017-18 season due to the loss of Neymar. Not many saw it coming, perhaps including the new man at the helm Valverde.

All in all, Barcelona have won this competition 39 times, with Cologne the next-most successful side with two to their name. Ten others have prevailed once, including another Brazilian side in Internacional. Inter are actually the only foreign winners, so a chance for Chapecoense to also write their name in the history books this evening. Truth be told, this is a match that Barca should be winning comfortably.

PREDICATION! Both sets of players will soon emerge down the tunnel area at Camp Nou, so this seems like a good time to offer a prediction. In what is the first meeting between the two sides, Barcelona are heavily backed to come out on top and, with this being their final official friendly of the summer, Ernesto Valverde has gone with a very strong starting lineup. With all that in mind, I'll go with a 4-1 home win.

One final chance for these Barcelona players to click into gear prior to their double-header against Real Madrid, then, which is always a feisty affair. Camp Nou looks about half full ahead of kickoff, which is still a good turnout for what is ultimately a friendly match. Plenty of eyes on Messi and Suarez this evening, as they link up in attack alongside the returning Gerard Deulofeu.

For Chape the occasion will be bigger than the result tonight, though they will still be arriving here with the intention of pulling off an upset. A reminder that the visitors will be sporting specialised shirts this evening featuring 71 stars, each one representing one of those who tragically perished in the air crash last December. Kickoff in Catalonia is now just a couple of minutes away.

KICKOFF We are up and running at Camp Nou in what is Barcelona's final friendly outing of the summer. An emotional occasion in Catalonia, but both sides will put emotions to one side for these next 90 minutes - or possibly more if penalties are required.

SAVE! Barca seeing plenty of the ball in the opening stages of the match, just gently working it forward from back to front. A good early chance for Messi, too, but he was denied by Elias Curzel after Busquets prodded it through.

CLOSE! Fair to say that Barcelona have started the match strongly. From the resulting corner Rakitic glanced the ball over the bar. It was then worked to Suarez in the next attack, but he could not beat last man Luiz Otavio.

Seven minutes on the clock but already Barcelona have carved their opponents open on four occasions. Suarez joined Messi in being denied by Curzel, but Deulofeu had better luck as he tapped home at the end of a Rakitic pass to open the scoring.

As expected it is completely one-way traffic at the moment. Suarez fluffed his lines when attempting an overhead kick, before Rakitic was denied from the rebound by a Chape defender. Could be a long evening for the visiting players.

He does not score all that often, but you would not know that from this attempt. Busquets was picked out 20 yards from goal and belted the ball into the top corner of the net. Harsh on Chape, because prior to that they had a strong penalty appeal turned down.

Chape have managed to get out of their own half of the field on one occasion so far, getting at their opponents seconds before falling two behind. Lesson learned, maybe, as Barca look as incredible as ever on the counter.

SHOT! Better from Chape, who have shown signs of growing into the match either side of that stunning Busquets strike. Wellington Paulista fashioned a good shooting chance, but the effort was hit across goal and wide.

After completely dominating the game for 13 minutes or so, it has been a much tighter affair over the past five minutes. In fact, the visitors have had the better of things, with another header being sent narrowly wide of the target.

Not quite happening for Barca at the moment, though that will not concerns Valverde thanks to that bright start that saw his men bag two goals. Could still be a long night for Chape but they have responded well overall.

Almost the perfect reverse pass around the back from Messi to Deulofeu, but he had just a little too much spin on it. The former Everton ace will be happy with his showing so far on his first home outing since returning to the club.

I have already lost count of the amount of times Barcelona have managed to get around the back. On this latest occasion Messi was flagged for offside, though, bringing an end to the home side's latest attack. Two-goal lead is deserved on the whole.

Barcelona have their third of the evening, and Messi has managed to join the scoring. Good link-up play between the Argentinian maestro and Deulofeu; the latter picking out his teammate at the second time of asking to sweep home from close range.

Prior to that Messi goal he had a similar swept attempt kept out by Curzel. Barcelona deserve their three-goal advantage, though that said Chapecoense have also had their moments and do look as though they have a goal in them.

SAVE! Curzel with another big stop down low, this time to thwart Suarez after he linked up with Messi. Barcelona could well reach double figures if they improve their success rate in front of goal, with three goals to show for their dominance so far.

SAVE! Chape goalkeeper Curzel is undoubtedly the star man so far, making himself big to ensure that Suarez's frustrating evening continues. A nice, straightforward home friendly for the hosts with 34 minutes now played at Camp Nou.

OFF THE LINE! Reinaldo was the defender in the right place at the right time to block Messi's close-range effort on the line. Seems to be a chance a minute for Barcelona at the moment, the majority of which they are squandering.

Iniesta with a fancy flick through, only seeing his attempt to get on the return pass halted by a cynical block. The visitors doing their absolute all to keep out their opponents at the moment, having already shipped three.

CHANCE! Five minutes to go until half time and Barca are looking good value to extend their advantage prior to then. Messi and Iniesta exchange passes, but the latter could not lift the ball over Curzel when one-on-one.

Chape had a bright spell of about five minutes earlier in the half, which ironically saw them concede through a counter-attacking goal. This was always going to be a tough evening for them, though, and there is no shame in being three down.

SAVE! Curzel, yet again, with a great stop. Suarez well and truly put his boot through the ball to send a left-sided cross goalwards, but the Chape keeper was there to push it to safety and deny his opponent for the fourth of fifth time.

The whistle sounds for half time, meaning that Barcelona have a comfortable three-goal advantage at the midway stage. The Catalans have been dominant pretty much throughout, looking good value for their lead and arguably doing enough to merit another.

The home side were on top from the first whistle, with Lionel Messi being denied by Elias Curzel in a sign of things to come and Ivan Rakitic glancing over from the resulting corner. Luis Suarez had his own personal battle with Curzel, being thwarted by the Chape keeper on four separate occasions in the first half, including late on through a well-struck volley.

Barcelona were getting in behind with ease, opening the scoring with six minutes on the clock through a Gerard Deulofeu tap-in following some good work from Ivan Rakitic. Sergio Busquets added the second thanks to a bullet strike from range, picking out the top corner of the net to put Barca well on their way to a straightforward victory.

Chape enjoyed a five-minute spell when they were on top, coming particularly close through a Wellington Paulista attempt that ended narrowly wide of Marc-Andre ter Stegen's post. The hosts were able to make the most of the gaps that had opened up at the other end of the field, though, adding a third of the evening via a sweeping finish from Lionel Messi following an exchange of passes with returning teammate Deulofeu.

It was then left to Curzel to keep the scoreline down, producing a string of stops to deny Suarez and one to frustrate Andres Iniesta, while Reinaldo also did enough to block a Messi attempt on the line. Barcelona well on course to picking up a big victory on home soil, then, with Chapecoense having to hold on to keep the scoreline down.

RESTART! We are back under way at Camp Nou, where Barcelona are looking to build on their first-half advantage in their final pre-season friendly of the summer. Chape showing a tad more urgency early in this second period.

Suarez unable to quite bring the ball under control when picked out inside the area. The hosts picking up from where they left off pretty much, exchanging passes in and around the opposition box but failing to add a fourth goal.

The attendance has been announced as just north of 64,000 - a good turnout for a friendly match. The Gamper Trophy looks certain to be heading the home side's way for a 40th time in 53 attempts, barring a miracle.

Denis Suarez, who was brought on at half time, almost gets on the end of a through-ball from namesake Luis. Barca failing to quite hit the levels witnessed in the opening 45 minutes so far, with the victory all but sealed in that first half.

Elias Curzel denied Suarez on numerous occasions in the first half, but the Uruguayan has got the better of his opponent on this occasion. A quick one-two with Messi set him free, and he was able to pick out the small gap between the keeper and post from a slight angle to add a fourth goal.

Just a question of how many goals Barcelona want now as far as the remaining half an hour or so goes. Valverde has already made some changes and he will likely make more with the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup in mind.

Messi at the heart of all Barcelona's attacks as ever. The hosts looking very good in an attacking sense this evening, though the quality of their opponents does of course have to be taken into account. Again, no shame in Chape being four down.

BARCELONA SUB! Sergio Roberto and Javier Mascherano are on for Samuel Umtiti and Andres Iniesta. Fresh legs and a chance for Valverde to give the two outgoing players a breather six days ahead of the Spanish Super Cup clash.

Chape made a sub of their own a short while ago, but the man in question has gone off almost immediately. Nadson looked to be in quite some pain, too, with a stretcher required to take him down the tunnel - a real shame for him.

CHAPECOENSE SUB! Barcelona just ticking along at the moment. A very positive pre-season campaign for Valverde, rounded off by this comfortable win over Chapecoense. Moises has been replaced by Antonio in Chape's latest alteration.

Midway through the second half and Barca not at the same level as they were in the first. The visitors giving as good as they have got but Cillessen, another of the half-time changes, as had very little to do so far.

YELLOW CARD! Victor Ramos with the game's first caution for pulling back on Luis Suarez. The game has been very quiet since the Uruguayan striker added a fourth goal of the match, but it is job done as far as the Catalans are concerned.

Chape have been the better team over the past few minutes, but still they cannot truly create any openings. Valverde would no doubt like to see a fifth and even sixth goal before full time, with 20 minutes still left to play at Camp Nou.

A well-worked goal from Barcelona for their fifth goal of the game; Messi picking out Denis Suarez who joins namesake Luis in beating Curzel this half. A smart finish from the half-time substitute and a deserved fifth for the hosts.

BARCELONA SUBS! Goalscorers Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi are among seven players to go off. Marlon Santos is one of those to be introduced Pique and summer signing Nelson Semedo is on for his Camp Nou debut at full-back.

We are fast approaching the final 10 minutes at Camp Nou, where Barcelona have been on top pretty much throughout and are deserving of their five-goal lead. Valverde has been given the chance to heavily rotate, which has broken up the play a little.

SAVE! Carles Alena with a headed attempt from a corner kick, which is straight down the middle for Cillessen to easily collect. Would be nice to see Chapecoense net a goal, with 10 minutes left on the clock for them to do so.

A good delivery into the box from the left but Sergi Roberto got under the ball and sent it high over the bar from around 15 yards out. Get the sense that a sixth Barcelona goal will arrive before that full-time whistle sounds.

The hosts still playing some nice football at times, without truly troubling the Chape backline. Six minutes remaining in Catalonia, plus possibly two or three minutes added on depending on what mood the referee is in.

PENALTY TO BARCELONA! Nelson Semedo cuts into the box and is scythed down, meaning that Barca have a chance to add a sixth goal of the evening from the spot. Paco Alcacer the man who looks likely to step up.

PENALTY SAVED! Alcacer did indeed step up to take it, but he was unable to find a way past Curzel who just stood his ground down the middle. That will likely be the hosts' final chance to add to their scoring as we enter extra time.

Barcelona round off their pre-season programme with a 5-0 win over Chapecoense at Camp Nou. Five different players got their name on the scoresheet, starting with Gerard Deulofeu in the sixth minute and ending with Denis Suarez in the 64th. Paco Alcacer should have added a sixth from the spot but he fluffed his lines late on.

That concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events at Camp Nou. An on-the-whistle report can be found by clicking here, while updates from the Spanish Super Cup clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid will be available at the same time next Sunday. See you then for what should be a cracker!