Barcelona, Liverpool and Real Madrid have all been on the wrong end of surprising pre-season results over the years, but such outcomes are usually best treated with a huge pinch of salt.

Pre-season is now in full flow again as clubs prepare for the 2026-27 season, and supporters of several teams are, of course, definitely not going to wildly overreact to one meaningless summer result.

Here are eight scorelines that prove just how easy it is to overanalyse pre-season friendlies.

We are including this one largely because of how bizarre the whole story was.

The tale goes that Plymouth had booked the Schloss Pichlarn hotel. Fabio Capello was determined that Real Madrid should stay at his preferred venue, so he set up a friendly against the second-tier side in order to secure the booking.

“Who are they to move us? I don’t like it myself. We’re Argyle, get out of our way!” Holloway joked before the friendly.

“We’ll leave something on a few of them and I don’t think they’ll like that too much! It’ll be something my lads will never forget.

“Whatever side they put out, they will have some great players. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us – a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Madrid did win in the end, but they were far from convincing in Capello’s first match in charge, managing only a late goal from a rather questionable penalty. A spirited and highly competitive display against European royalty might have hinted that Argyle were heading towards a special campaign.

Capello’s Los Blancos improved quickly and went on to take back the La Liga title from European champions Barcelona, while Plymouth finished 11th in the Championship.

The result itself stands out, but it also completed an excellent unbeaten pre-season for Spurs, who won seven of their eight friendlies and seemed to be carrying genuine momentum after winning the League Cup earlier that year.

Darren Bent and David Bentley both scored twice, while Aaron Lennon added another, as Tottenham tore apart an impressive Roma side featuring Philippe Mexes, John Arne Riise and Daniele De Rossi.

“Juande Ramos’s Spurs side sent out a clear warning to the rest of the Premier League today with a convincing five-goal win against Serie A runners-up, and Italian Cup-winners Roma,” began the match report on the Spurs Odyssey fansite.

What followed? They collected just two points from their opening eight Premier League matches, and Ramos was swiftly dismissed in October with Spurs in the relegation zone.

Harry Redknapp then came in and eventually guided them to an eighth-place finish.

Newcastle had just suffered relegation for the first time in the Premier League era and the atmosphere around the club was poisonous.

A humiliating 6-1 friendly loss to Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road only made things worse.

“Newcastle United put up a shameful display against League One side Leyton Orient as Toon fans who dared to venture to the capital saw their team stoop to a fresh low,” fumed journalist Lee Ryder in local newspaper The Chronicle.

“Lacking leadership, discipline, belief, organisation, team spirit and the all-round clout to see off the Londoners, United have never required their leader-in-waiting Alan Shearer more than now.

“How much longer can Mike Ashley allow the Magpies to rot in hell?

“Even if Newcastle cannot be sold for the price the Toon tycoon requires, the right and honourable decision should be to appoint Shearer now to get this mad house in order – before it is too late.

“Never mind getting promotion at the first attempt – this ship is sinking quickly towards third-flight football unless somebody gets a grip.”

There was no sale in the end – not for another 12 years, in fact – and Shearer proved no more to be a leader-in-waiting than Jimmy Nail or Sting, with caretaker Chris Hughton eventually taking the role permanently after doing an outstanding job of getting the Magpies back on course.

Newcastle went up at the first attempt, and in style, finishing with 102 points. So what, exactly, was all the panic about?

Orient, meanwhile, ended the season 17th in League One.

Manchester City were still in the early phase of the Sheikh Mansour era in the summer of 2009.

Yet they travelled to Camp Nou and defeated Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy, becoming only one of three teams to beat the hosts in their traditional curtain-raiser since 1995.

“The world’s richest club beat the Catalan giants to announce their arrival on the big stage,” wrote Goal.

Did that result mark the beginning of a glorious new era for City? Not really. Mark Hughes was sacked five months later after a run of only one win in 10 Premier League matches.

Did it trigger a decline for Guardiola’s side? No, not really.

They lost only one league match in the 2009-10 campaign, scored 98 goals and amassed 98 points on their way to retaining the La Liga title.

Debutant Zlatan Ibrahimovic, however, did not really work out.

Remember when Alexis Sanchez’s debut for Arsenal was overshadowed by Yaya Sanogo scoring four goals?

Remember when Sanogo then turned into a complete world-beater?

Oh.

Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku both scored in the first Manchester derby ever played outside England, during the 2017 International Champions Cup in Houston.

Some excitable pundits suggested it showed they were title contenders, but Mourinho adopted a much more cautious view.

“We need a bit more and when you see the other teams in the Premier League, the way they get players and good players and you see the Champions buy three fantastic experienced players,” Mourinho said after the match.

“City go to the market and Liverpool and West Ham get Joe Hart, Chicharito and Arnautovic, West Ham – wow – they play to win the Premier League too.”

As it turned out, Mourinho was absolutely right about the weaknesses in his squad.

United did finish runners-up that season, but they were 19 points behind City, who shattered the Premier League record by reaching 100 points.

He was less accurate about West Ham, who finished 13th.

Liverpool headed into the 2019-20 season on a four-match winless run in friendlies, and they looked especially poor in a 3-0 defeat to Napoli.

“Should Liverpool be worried?” asked Sky Sports. With hindsight, the answer was a very emphatic no.

They dropped only two points from their first 27 matches and cruised to their first league title in 30 years.

Man Utd 4-0 Everton (2021)

Alright, in hindsight this result may well have hinted at the difficulties Rafael Benitez would face at Goodison Park, and ultimately Everton’s desperate fight against relegation in 2021-22.

For United, though, everything appeared to be going perfectly as they brushed aside Benitez’s Toffees with an authoritative 4-0 win in their final pre-season friendly at Old Trafford.

They even carried that momentum into a ruthless 5-1 demolition of Leeds United on the opening weekend.

Then Cristiano Ronaldo arrived, and things quickly began to unravel. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked during the season, and the Red Devils eventually recorded their lowest points total of the Premier League era.