Barcelona invites Chapecoense to play friendly

Barcelona's Lionel Messi applauds as he enters the pitch during the presentation of the team for the new season moments before the Joan Gamper trophy soccer match between FC Barcelona and AS Roma at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, in 2015. (Francisco Seco/AP)

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona says it has extended an invitation to host a friendly match against the Brazilian soccer club involved in last week’s plane crash.

Chapecoense was on its way to the final of the Copa Sudamericana, one of South America’s most prestigious club tournaments, when its flight went down in Colombia, killing all but six of the 77 players, officials and journalists on board.

The match would be played in August. The friendly, called the Joan Gamper trophy, is used as Barcelona’s traditional curtain raiser for the new season.

Barcelona says it sent a formal invitation to Chapecoense on Thursday.

Barcelona says it wants to "pay homage to the 71 people who died in the accident as well as their families."

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