We tell you how Toulon Métropole Futsal found itself in a friendly match against FC Barcelona

"If Barça offers us another chance to play on January 1st at 6 a.m., we'll go straight there!" Sergei Padalinski was still reeling on Saturday, on the way home, the day after an improbable friendly match between his Toulon team and FC Barcelona, one of the best clubs in Europe.

For many, if not all, starting with the Spaniards from TMF (Ordoñez, Villaverde, Gomez, Quiles), it was a dream. This one came true thanks to one man: Lluis Bernat Molina, who spent, from 2016 to 2018, on the bench of Toulon, a club "which is still in [his] heart" .

However, he has only just become assistant coach at Barça, after seven years crisscrossing Asia, heading clubs in Vietnam, Japan, Kuwait and Thailand, then the Kyrgyzstan national team.

Molina: "A good image"

FC Barcelona couldn't find an opponent to start their preseason? He sorted it out with a phone call. "Sassi (Ben Naceur, the manager), with whom I'm often in contact, was ready to come in a minute," smiles the Catalan, happy to be returning home, but also to cross paths again with his former assistant, Karim Deman-Marouani, or his former players, like Pupa and Nito.

He was also behind a similar confrontation in 2016. Except this time, Barça lined up their armada. Toulon may be a stronghold in D1 futsal, but the result was nothing to write home about: 6-0 for the partners of French international Mamadou Touré and a few Brazilian world champions, like Pito.

According to Lluis Bernat Molina, however, the Red and Blacks "were great." "They were well positioned in defense, showed desire and good spirit and didn't give up. They really gave a good image. For us, it was a real pleasure too, our players were eager to get going," he adds.

Serguei Padalinski, who would have preferred to face such an opponent at the end of his preparation, is also encouraging, barely ten days after the resumption of training: "It was a very good experience for everyone. Our first ten minutes were excellent, we worked well in defense. And we didn't concede any easy goals."

The Toulon coach was also able to give playing time to everyone, except Pupa and Skora, who were rested.

Next up for the TMF? Another friendly this Wednesday against Cannes, a Regional 1 club. A big difference.