Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham was in attendance as his hometown team Birmingham City beat Barcelona on penalties at St Andrew’s in a pre-season friendly.Birmingham, who count NFL legend Tom Brady as one of their minority owners, took on a Barcelona side primarily made up of academy players and first team reserves. The match was sent to spot-kicks after full time ended with the scoreline at 2-2.New summer signing Karim Adeyemi was amongst the starters, as was goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, defenders Gerard Martin and Andreas Christensen and midfielders Marc Casado and Marc Bernal.Adeyemi was in action at St Andrew’s (Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)Jude Bellingham was in the stands for the game, wearing a Birmingham home shirt. The 23-year-old came through the academy at Birmingham, becoming the youngest player to appear for the first team as a 16-year-old. He made 44 appearances for the side before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2020, with Birmingham retiring his No 22 shirt.
August Priske, who joined Birmingham in January from Swedish club Djurgarden, gave Birmingham the lead in the 31st minute. 18-year-old Egyptian striker Hamza Abdelkarim equalised from the penalty spot 11 minutes later after being brought down in the box by Christoph Klarer.Abdelkarim then put Barcelona ahead on the hour mark, tapping home from close range after substitute Roony Bardghji’s shot from the edge of the box was parried. However, Jhon Solis levelled the game for Birmingham in the 68th minute, volleying home after a well-worked free kick.In the shootout, young Barca goalkeeper Aron Yaakobishvili made two stops, as did Birmingham’s James Beadle, with 17-year-old Barcelona defender Jordi also hitting the crossbar.
