Stoke City assistant manager Gerry Francis yesterday opined that Champions League winners Barcelona, who beat English champions Manchester United 2-0 to claim the continent’s showpiece trophy in Rome on Wednesday night, would struggle to match their Spanish achievements if they played in England, where he feels the general level of competition is much higher, and certainly more intense.

The Potters will get the chance this summer to see how they would match up against Spanish opposition when they welcome Real Valladolid to the Britannia for a friendly on Friday August 7, the club’s official website confirmed today.

City won few friends outside of Staffordshire with their successful, albeit very combative, style of football this season, but it worked, as they remained in the Premier League, confounding many of the pundits who’d predicted a swift end to their return to the English top-flight.

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